Simac Ladies Tour 2021 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE] (ladies)

August 25, 2021

Simac Ladies Tour 2021 – Stage 1 – Zwolle – Hardenberg : 134,4 km

Rebranded and with renewed vigour, the Simac Ladies Tour is back after a one-year hiatus and ready to embark on its 24th edition. As ever, the 2021 race will hinge on two individual time trials that’ll likely dictate the overall standings, while two flat and two undulating stages will give the sprinters and fast-finishing all-rounders plenty of chances to shine. With superstars Marianne Vos, Anna van de Breggen, Lizzie Deignan and Emma Norsgaard all set to line up, this year’s race promises to be one of the most hotly-contested in years. This six-day Dutch stage race has gone by many different names since its launch as the ‘Holland Ladies Tour’ in 1998, but it was perhaps best known as the ‘Boels Ladies Tour’ – a name it carried from 2013 until this year. For the 2021 edition, tech company Simac have taken over title sponsorship from Boels and – provided this year’s race is a success – will go on to sponsor the event for a further two years. This year’s race may have been rebranded, but its route remains as recognisable as ever with two individual time trials, two flat stages and two undulating stages that, on paper, look like gifts to the powerful rouleurs and explosive sprinters. Don’t discount the threat of crosswinds however, the Netherlands is renowned for its blustery weather and we’ve often seen past editions of this race decided with a lucky throw of the dice in windy conditions.

Alison Jackson (Liv Racing) won her first Women’s WorldTour race at stage 1 of the 2021 Simac Ladies Tour. After being part of a three-rider move earlier on in the race with Maëlle Grossetête (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) and Nina Buysman (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Jackson came to the line with Grossetête and held off charging sprint teams to take the win in Hardenberg.

Grossetête took second and Lorena Wiebes won the bunch kick for third place.

It was the third instance in a short space of time that a breakaway has scuppered sprint hopefuls’ plans in stage races after the first two stages of the Ladies Tour of Norway unfolded in a similar manner.

“I won the bike race,” Jackson said in disbelief after the stage. “I saw an opportunity early on and normally I’m waiting for the sprint but we’ve seen that long breakaways actually get a lot of success when you’re with some strong people. Just happy that the other two bridged to me and yeah we worked hard and just snuck in that win and I’m just Yeah, super happy. A win is a win but it’s been a tough year and I just really think it’s a gift.”

Jackson has taken over the lead in the overall classification from prologue winner Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma). She sits at the top of the GC standings on the same time as Vos, and three seconds ahead of Wiebes.

How it unfolded

The first road stage of the race was a flat and technical day that was expected to come down to a bunch sprint. However, in keeping with a pattern of late within women’s racing the day went to the breakaway once again.

Jackson instigated the move of the day with 107km of the 134.4km stage to go and 8km later was joined by Grossetête, and Buysman who bridged up to the Canadian.

The gap to the three riders extended to over two minutes with 68km to go before the sprinter’s teams started to organise a chase. Movistar, Canyon-SRAM, Team DSM and Valcar Travel & Service put in work to bring the gap down to 1:50 before the intermediate sprint at 43km to go, won by Grossetête ahead of Buysman and Jackson.

With 40km to go Sanne Bouwmeester of GT Krush Tunap made an attempt to bridge to the three leaders as the gap between the break and the peloton once again went out to over two minutes. Bouwmeester was caught with 30km to go having been unsuccessful in her chase.

With just over 20km to go the main sprint teams began pushing the pace on the front and managed to chip away at the break’s advantage. However, it looked to be coming down to the wire with the three leaders maintaining a one minute gap with 14km to go.

Swiss national champion and Olympic time trial silver medallist Marlen Reusser (Ale BTC Ljubljana) suffered a crash with 13km to go as the pace started to increase.

With 10km to go Buysman was distanced from her breakaway companions and with 8km to go she was caught by the peloton, leaving Jackson and Grossetête in front on the narrow roads leading into Hardenberg.

Movistar, Canyon-SRAM and Team DSM continued to work hard to pull back the remaining two riders but with under 5km to go the gap was still 22 seconds. At 2.9km to go the peloton had the pair in sight with a gap of 18 seconds but it was yet another miscalculation by the sprint teams as Jackson and Grossetête contested the win between them resulting in Jackson taking her first WorldTour victory.

Lorena Wiebes proved herself to be the fastest sprinter in the peloton winning the bunch kick for third and undoubtedly ruing what could have been.

Thursday’s stage is a 17km individual time trial in Gennep that may see the general classification change hands once again.

Results :
1 Alison Jackson (Can) Liv Racing 3:18:20
2 Maëlle Grossetete (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
3 Lorena Wiebes (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:04
4 Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
5 Charlotte Kool (Ned) NXTG Racing
6 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Movistar Team Women
7 Emma Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team Women
8 Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
9 Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
10 Lonneke Uneken (Ned) Team SD Worx
11 Amber van der Hulst (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
12 Vittoria Guazzini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
13 Clara Copponi (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
14 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
15 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team SD Worx
16 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
17 Daniek Hengeveld (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
18 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
19 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
20 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
21 Femke Markus (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
22 Danique Braam (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies
23 Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
24 Alana Castrique (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
25 Silke Smulders (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies
26 Sarah Roy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
27 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
28 Christine Majerus (Lux) Team SD Worx
29 Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
30 Marta Jaskulska (Pol) Liv Racing
31 Jesse Vandenbulcke (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
32 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
33 Julia Borgström (Swe) NXTG Racing
34 Valerie Demey (Bel) Liv Racing
35 Romy Kasper (Ger) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
36 Jeanne Korevaar (Ned) Liv Racing
37 Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
38 Elise Vander Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
39 Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) Team DSM
40 Ella Harris (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
41 Lea Lin Teutenberg (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
42 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Team SD Worx
43 Henrietta Colborne (GBr) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
44 Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
45 Lisa Klein (Ger) Canyon-SRAM Racing
46 Hanna Nilsson (Swe) Lotto Soudal Ladies
47 Jelena Eric (Srb) Movistar Team Women
48 Susanne Andersen (Nor) Team DSM
49 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned) Team SD Worx
50 Leah Kirchmann (Can) Team DSM
51 Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Movistar Team Women
52 Chiara Consonni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
53 Ilse Pluimers (Ned) NXTG Racing
54 Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
55 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Team BikeExchange
56 Anouska Koster (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
57 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
58 Quinty Ton (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
59 Clara Lundmark (Swe) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
60 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
61 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
62 Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
63 Laura Tomasi (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
64 Julie Leth (Den) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
65 Megan Jastrab (USA) Team DSM
66 Mischa Bredewold (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
67 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
68 Nienke Wasmus (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
69 Julia Soek (Ned) Team DSM
70 Margaux Vigie (Fra) Valcar-Travel & Service
71 Maud Rijnbeek (Ned) NXTG Racing
72 Evy Kuijpers (Ned) Liv Racing
73 Teniel Campbell (TTo) Team BikeExchange
74 Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
75 Franziska Brauße (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
76 Femke Gerritse (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
77 Maaike Boogaard (Ned) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
78 Catalina Anais Soto Campos (Chi) NXTG Racing
79 Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
80 Alexis Ryan (USA) Canyon-SRAM Racing
81 Pernille Mathiesen (Den) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
82 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
83 Jessica Allen (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:58
84 Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:01:14
85 Lieke Nooijen (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:02:18
86 Nina Buijsman (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
87 Britt Knaven (Bel) NXTG Racing
88 Georgia Williams (NZl) Team BikeExchange
89 Sanne Bouwmeester (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling 0:05:21
90 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
DNS Aude Biannic (Fra) Movistar Team Women

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Alison Jackson (Can) Liv Racing 3:21:25
2 Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
3 Lorena Wiebes (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:03
4 Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:05
5 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:00:06
6 Lonneke Uneken (Ned) Team SD Worx
7 Christine Majerus (Lux) Team SD Worx 0:00:07
8 Maëlle Grossetete (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:00:08
9 Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
10 Lisa Klein (Ger) Canyon-SRAM Racing
11 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Movistar Team Women
12 Charlotte Kool (Ned) NXTG Racing
13 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned) Team SD Worx 0:00:09
14 Anouska Koster (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
15 Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) Team DSM
16 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:00:10
17 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team SD Worx
18 Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:00:11
19 Clara Copponi (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
20 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
21 Emma Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team Women
22 Vittoria Guazzini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
23 Leah Kirchmann (Can) Team DSM
24 Mischa Bredewold (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:00:12
25 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
26 Megan Jastrab (USA) Team DSM
27 Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
28 Margaux Vigie (Fra) Valcar-Travel & Service
29 Amber van der Hulst (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:00:13
30 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
31 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Team SD Worx
32 Ella Harris (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:00:14
33 Maud Rijnbeek (Ned) NXTG Racing
34 Susanne Andersen (Nor) Team DSM
35 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
36 Jelena Eric (Srb) Movistar Team Women
37 Sarah Roy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
38 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team 0:00:15
39 Chiara Consonni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
40 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:16
41 Jeanne Korevaar (Ned) Liv Racing
42 Ilse Pluimers (Ned) NXTG Racing
43 Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
44 Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
45 Lea Lin Teutenberg (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
46 Pernille Mathiesen (Den) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:00:17
47 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
48 Femke Markus (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
49 Alexis Ryan (USA) Canyon-SRAM Racing
50 Danique Braam (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies
51 Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
52 Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
53 Maaike Boogaard (Ned) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
54 Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:00:18
55 Catalina Anais Soto Campos (Chi) NXTG Racing
56 Quinty Ton (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
57 Laura Tomasi (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
58 Julia Borgström (Swe) NXTG Racing 0:00:19
59 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:00:20
60 Romy Kasper (Ger) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
61 Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
62 Hanna Nilsson (Swe) Lotto Soudal Ladies
63 Femke Gerritse (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
64 Daniek Hengeveld (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling 0:00:21
65 Franziska Brauße (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
66 Julie Leth (Den) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
67 Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
68 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Team BikeExchange
69 Silke Smulders (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies 0:00:22
70 Julia Soek (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:23
71 Valerie Demey (Bel) Liv Racing
72 Alana Castrique (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
73 Marta Jaskulska (Pol) Liv Racing
74 Teniel Campbell (TTo) Team BikeExchange
75 Jesse Vandenbulcke (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies 0:00:24
76 Evy Kuijpers (Ned) Liv Racing 0:00:26
77 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
78 Clara Lundmark (Swe) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
79 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
80 Henrietta Colborne (GBr) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling 0:00:27
81 Nienke Wasmus (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling 0:00:35
82 Elise Vander Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies 0:00:36
83 Jessica Allen (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:01:23
84 Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:01:37
85 Lieke Nooijen (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:02:25
86 Nina Buijsman (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:02:29
87 Georgia Williams (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:02:37
88 Britt Knaven (Bel) NXTG Racing 0:03:23
89 Sanne Bouwmeester (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling 0:05:30
90 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:05:45