Saturday 10 August, Perth – 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) is the first rider to wear the Baillie Gifford Yellow Jersey as she claimed a sensational stage win at the Women’s Tour of Scotland in Perth.
With an impressive sprint in the final 200m, she capped off what was a thrilling day of racing on day two. A bunch sprint finish through the packed streets of Perth also saw 21-year-old Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) and Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) earn a place on the podium going into the final stage in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Earlier in the stage it looked like there could be one main contender for the Baillie Gifford Leaders Jersey, with Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) holding a 1 minute 45 second lead ahead of the peloton around the 90km mark, but she was quickly caught by the remaining riders as the race headed for an exhilarating finish.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla) held on to the EventScotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey for a second successive stage after her team’s impressive performance on the climb, while her teammate Leah Thomas tops the Motorola Solutions Queen of Sprints competition standings.
Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) took the Deloitte Best Young Rider Jersey for her second-placed effort.
“Myself and my team came here wanting to win. We knew we could do that by winning stages. We were ready to win yesterday’s, if it weren’t for the rain, but today we managed to achieve our goal. We really played the game. When you have your teammates all in the right place, you know you will be able to win the sprint. I’m really happy about the result, not just for myself individually, but for the whole team.”
“I am so pleased with my result. I was so close to the win, which makes it a little bit bittersweet because for a split second I thought, I can win this. Alison Jackson is such a powerful sprinter with so much race experience over here in Europe which is exactly what myself and my team here are trying to gain. I couldn’t be happier to finish in second. Bigla was the most powerful team out there. They had strength in numbers but I parked myself right behind them, knowing it would be a strong lead-out. With about 200m to go, I came around Leah, their sprinter, and almost imagined to hold it. I loved the finish in Perth, we were forced to take chances. It’s the best result we have had here in Europe so I’m just so happy.”
Interview – Alison Jackson 2nd Stage Winner WToS 2019 by Cycling Shorts
Alison Jackson Stage 2 Winner in Perth of the Women’s Tour of Scotland 2019 talks to the media. All content ©www.cyclingshorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk
The Glasgow crowds flocked in their hundreds to George Square on Saturday morning to cheer on the 87 riders as they set off for Stage 2 towards Perth.
111 Jumi Lee (Korea National Team) withdrew before the race start.
Three riders attempted to go clear on 17km but the peloton reacted quickly to keep the main field together going into the first sprint of the stage in Aberfoyle.
37.8km Aberfoyle sprint (Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey competition):
1. (5pts) 2 Neah Evans (Scotland)
2. (3pts) 44 Annelies Dom (Lotto-Soudal)
3. (2pts) 82 Chiara Consonni (Valcar Cylance Cycling)
4. (1pts) 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
45km Duke’s Pass (EventScotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey competition):
1. (8pts) 21 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla)
2. (6pts) 23 Elise Chabbey (Bigla)
3. (4pts) 36 Joscelin Lowden (DROPS)
4. (2pts) 26 Leah Thomas (Bigla)
5. (1pt) 122 Vita Heine (Norway National Team)
“The finish was so close, but I am thrilled with my position. The last few kilometres were very hectic. My teammate tried to attack, but she couldn’t make it through. In the end, we are very happy with our positioning.”
The gruelling 4km-long Duke’s Pass ascent caused the peloton to splinter into several groups, eight riders broke off at the front with 23 Elise Chabbey, 24 Nikola Noskova, 25 Mikayla Harvey and 26 Leah Thomas of Bigla all amongst the pack alongside 36 Joscelin Lowden (DROPS), 64 Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally UHC), 71 Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) and 121 Stine Borgli (Norway National Team).
At 50km, the leading group had a 15 second advantage ahead of the next rider, 122 Vita Heine (Norway National Team) and 1m 5 secs ahead of the peloton, before Heine caught up with the leaders
Five kilometres further into the Trossachs trail, the nine leaders had taken a 1 minute 15 secs lead over chaser 94 Ursa Pintar (BTC City Ljubljana) who was quickly caught by the peloton.
At 70km, the leading group were 1minute and 29 secs ahead of the peloton as they approached the Strathyre sprint – won by Leah Thomas, allowing her to wear the Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey for day three.
71.4km Strathyresprint (Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey competition):
1. (5pts) 26 Leah Thomas (Bigla)
2. (3pts) 121 Stine Borgli (Norway National Team)
3. (2pts) 64 Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally UHC Cycling)
4. (1pts) 23 Elise Chabbey (Bigla)
“Winning the sprints jersey wasn’t really in my plans today, it just turned out that way on the road. I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of points yesterday just by maintaining position and following moves. We were really aggressive with four of us in the leading pack after the Queen of the Mountains and we really wanted to push a break. We knew it was a long shot to hold it 100km to the finish because we don’t have a real sprinter here. My team did an awesome lead-out for me going into the finish and it’s a shame we didn’t manage to get on the podium but I’m delighted we have hold of the sprints and mountain jerseys.”
With the hills behind them, the peloton were able to catch the main group on the flat roads towards Perth, 71 Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) being the only rider to hold her lead as she rode alone 34 seconds in front of the main group with 43km left to go.
Ten kilometres later and Chapman had extended her lone advantage to 1 minute 45 secs, the Baillie Gifford Leaders jersey in sight for the Australian rider. It was this effort which saw her end the day with the most combative rider award.
110.4km Crieffsprint (Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey competition):
1. (5pts) 71 Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
2. (3pts) 91 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City Ljubljana)
3. (2pts) 13 Ahreum Na (Ale Cipollini)
4. (1pts) 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
The peloton pushed on and the final stretch of the race made for an incredible chase as Brodie Chapman’s lead was cut from 1 minute 45 seconds to just 9 seconds with 10km left to ride.
As the riders approached Perth, Chapman was caught by the peloton and the final 3km into the city centre turned into a bunch sprint, with Chapman’s Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank teammate Alison Jackson edging over the finish line, with Emma White (Rally UHC) and Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) close behind in second and third.
“Going over the top of Duke’s Pass first was amazing, but I have such a strong team. They did amazingly well today – they’re so strong. We tried some bold tactics and they worked pretty well! We did so well in the climb and we decided to go for the sprint as well. We did really well considering we don’t have an exceptional sprinter here. We can be so proud for how we raced as a team today. We will have huge smiles on our faces tonight.”
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Glasgow to Perth – stage result:
1. 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) 03h 24m 27s
2. 61 Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) +4s
3. 121 Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) +4s
Baillie Gifford Leaders Jersey (General Classification) standings:
1. 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
2. 61 Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling)
3. 121 Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) +4s
Jerseys
Baillie Gifford Leaders Jersey: overall race leader: 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
Motorola Solutions Queen of Sprints Jersey: 26 Leah Thomas (Bigla)
EventScotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey: mountain classification leader – 21 Cecilie Ludwig Uttrup (Bigla)
Deloitte Best Young Rider Jersey: 61 Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling)
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