Tour of Scandinavia: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig takes stage 5 victory and GC lead atop Norefjell climb

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) won the ‘queen stage’ of the Tour of Scandinavia and took the lead in the general classification after outsprinting Liane Lippert (Team DSM) in the final meters of the Norefjell climb.

Lippert and Uttrup Ludwig attacked the elite selection in the final three kilometers of the climb, holding off the chasers to contest the win between them. Julie Van de Velde (Plantur-Pura) completed the podium in third.

Uttrup Ludwig now leads the GC by a comfortable 17-second margin with just one punchy stage remaining on Sunday.

“We just have to defend it [the lead], because we want to bring this home. It’s going to be hard and a big battle tomorrow but I’m excited for it and I think the team is ready. We want to take this jersey home,” Uttrup Ludwig said.

After crashing on Friday, pre-race favorite Demi Vollering (SD Worx) did not stage 5, nor did her teammates Anna Shackley or Niamh Fisher-Black, the latter having sustained a fractured collarbone.

With Vollering and two of the next-best climbers out of the race, the battle for the yellow jersey was somewhat more open going into the ‘queen stage.’

The day started with a very early solo breakaway as Esmée Peperkamp (Team DSM) got herself up the road in the opening kilometers of the stage, quickly building an advantage of 20 seconds on the peloton. Peperkamp stayed away through the first Queen of the Mountains, but could not make the solo effort last and was brought back to the peloton after 30km of the stage.

There were several more attacks and moments of aggression but again nothing stuck and there was a brief calm in the peloton after the first hour of racing. On the second categorized climb of the day, mountains jersey wearer Amber Kraak (Jumbo Visma) took three points behind Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) which mathematically secured victory in the classification, provided she finishes the race.

The calm in the peloton did not last long and it was Canyon-SRAM who kicked off the action after the climb, sending Sarah Roy on the attack.

Roy stretched out an advantage of 30 seconds on the peloton, but the bunch were chasing behind as the likes of Trek-Segafredo and BikeExchange-Jayco tried to also put someone at the front of the race. The result of the aggression from behind was that Lucinda Brand, Nina Kessler (BikeExchange-Jayco), Tamara Dronova (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss) and Amber Kraak joined the Australian. But, with Tour de Suisse winner Brand in the group, her breakaway companions were reluctant to work with her, much to the Dutchwoman’s frustration. With no cooperation, the group was soon caught.

Going into the final 45km of the stage, Sophie Wright (UAE Team ADQ) attacked and was allowed to gain a minute and a half advantage as the peloton took the chance to relax before the climb arrived.

With 30km remaining, Wright was over two minutes ahead and Valerie Demey (Liv Racing Xstra) set off in pursuit of the Brit, with the peloton still yet to really start the chase. Once the peloton did get organized, though, the time gaps began to fall very quickly in the final kilometers before the base of the decisive climb. Demey was caught with 18km remaining, and Wright followed at the 14km to go mark.

Starting the climb, it was FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope who were leading the peloton in support of Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, setting a pace that already saw riders distanced in the first kilometer of the 11km ascent. Stine Borgli (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) and then white Shari Bossuyt (Canyon-SRAM) controlled the first half of the climb in support of Uttrup Ludwig and Neve Bradbury respectively, and their efforts saw the group slowly whittled down.

Yellow jersey Marianne Vos was dropped with 7km remaining, marking the end of her spell in the race lead. By 5km to go, the lead group had shrunk to just 10 riders, and it was Bradbury who was the first to attack at the 3.2km to go mark. She had Liane Lippert (Team DSM) on her wheel, though, and the German went over the top of Bradbury, taking with her Uttrup Ludwig.

Uttrup Ludwig took a second on Lippert on the line, and now leads the overall classification by 17 seconds. Stage 4 winner Alex Manly climbed to fifth on the stage and sits third on GC. Tenth on the stage, Neve Bradbury will wear the white young rider’s jersey on stage 6, whilst the green and mountains jerseys remain with Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra) and Amber Kraak.

Tomorrow’s final stage sets off from Lillestrom towards Halden, a frequent host of the Ladies Tour of Norway, for a lumpy stage that culminates on a punchy circuit around the town. Though Uttrup Ludwig has a lead on the GC, the Dane will have to be alert on a stage that lends itself well to attacks from her competitors.