Anna Magrath Archives - Page 22 of 79

Chloe Hosking wins Warwickshire stage of OVO Women’s Tour

by Chris Maher | Jun 9, 2017

Alé Cipollini’s Australian Chloe Hosking sprinted to victory in Royal Leamington Spa at the end of the third stage of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, as WM3 Pro Cycling’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma retained her hold on the race leader’s OVO Energy Green Jersey.

Hosking came off Giorgia Bronzini’s wheel with around 100-metres to go on the Parade in Leamington Spa with only Drops rider Alice Barnes providing a challenge on the long, straight gently rising drag to the finish line.

It feels really great, this is a highlight race for most riders on the calendar so I feel really privileged to come away with my first win and first podium here. It’s a phenomenal event, I feel like I’ve entered an elite group!

It seemed like a number of the teams wanted the finish to be from the group. There was a group of five that got away and for me that was a bit worrying. There were girls like Shara Gillow and Gracie Elvin – both Australians, both really, really strong – and the course wasn’t dead flat. It took a bit of effort to drag them in. Once we caught them everybody switched their mindset to a bunch sprint. It was a bit chaotic, which is strange because it was probably the least technical finish we have all week. But it was nice that the sprinters got a chance.

Chloe Hosking

Winner Stage 3 - OVO Energy Women's Tour

Behind Hosking came Alice Barnes, retaking the Adams Best British riders jersey from her sister Hannah, who was sixth, with the pair now sitting third and fourth overall, both 1-minute and 46-seconds back from Niewiadoma.

Thanks to time bonuses Ellen Van Dijk, third on the stage, moves up to second overall, 1-minute and 43-seconds behind Niewiadoma with two stages remaining.

It was another hard stage, but not as hard as yesterday, All teams were expecting a bunch sprint and they wanted to take their chance. At one point a breakaway of five riders was clear but I was pretty calm as I knew that they were not competitors for me on GC. My team controlled the whole race. After the two SKODA Queen of the Mountains climbs other teams were eager to help at the front to chase them down and take a big bunch to the finish line. It was a long day for sure – 150 kilometres – but I really enjoyed it. It’s so nice in the UK, I have to admit. The scenery is really beautiful.

Katarzyna Niewadoma

Leader after Stage 3 - OVO Womens Tour, WM3 Pro Cycling

Interview – Alice Barnes, Best British Rider Stage 3 OVO Womens Tour by Cycling Shorts

Alice Barnes of Drops Cycling talks to the media after taking control of the Best British Rider Jersey after Stage 3 of the OVO Womens Tour. Image ©www.chrismaher.couk | www.cyclingshorts.cc

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, the leading young rider in the UCI Women’s World Tour briefly threatened Niewiadoma’s leading as the best placed of five riders who hit the front and built an almost two-minute lead, but were finally reigned back in at five kilometres to go, setting up the thrilling sprint finish.

While Niewiadoma kept her OVO Energy Green Jersey and Wiggle Points Jersey for WM3 Pro Cycling, some shine was taken off the day as teammate Marianne Vos fell to fifth overall and was unable to contest the finish after crashing within the final 500-metres.

Wiggle HIGH5 kept the SKODA Queen of the Mountains jersey with Audrey Cordon-Ragot, now seven points clear of Lucinda Brand, while the team also took the Eisberg Sprints Jersey thanks to Jolien D’hoore who picked up points at both intermediate sprints in Kenilworth and Wellesbourne.

Interview – Katarzyna Niewadoma Green Jersey Holder OVO Women’s Tour – Stage 3 by Cycling Shorts

Katarzyna Niewadoma, the Green Jersey Holder in the OVO Women’s Tour chats to the media at the end of Stage 3. Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | www.cyclingshorts.cc

Interview – Chloe Hoskins Stage 3 Winner – OVO Women’s Tour by Cycling Shorts

Chloe Hoskins winner of Stage 3 – OVO Women’s Tour chats to the media after her win. Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | www.cyclingshorts.cc

Highlights of the third stage of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour are on ITV4 at 23:00 on Friday 9 June, with a repeat at 08:55 the following morning on the same channel. The highlights will also be available on demand via the ITV Hub catch-up service.

Saturday 10 June sees Stage Four of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour starting and finishing in the centre of Chesterfield, where Lizzie Deignan won a stage in 2016. The 123-kilometre route takes place entirely within Derbyshire, taking in Wirksworth, Belper and Bolsover before the finish in the heart of Chesterfield town centre.

One week after the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, amateur cyclists will have the chance to ride sections of the Northamptonshire route in the Tour Ride, the official sportive of the race on Sunday 18 June. Riders can take part in 40 or 80-mile routes, starting and finishing at Delapre Abbey in Northamptonshire, or tackle a fun, 10-mile Family Ride. For more details visit www.tourride.co.uk

Stage 3 Results

Overall Standings

Chris Maher

Photographer & Writer

Based in the North East of England; photographer Chris Maher specialises in sports photography with his main interests in Cycling and Super Bikes. Chris has covered sports events from local and national level right up to the Olympics for CyclingShorts.cc.
Website: www.ChrisMaher.co.uk

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

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Stage 2 OVO Women’s Tour

by Chris Maher | Jun 8, 2017

Amy Pieters surged to victory in Stoke-on-Trent at the end of the second stage of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, pipping British Champion Hannah Barnes to the stage win as Katarzyna Niewiadoma retained the overall lead and the OVO Energy Green Jersey.

The Pole, who put in a dominant display to win Stage One in Northamptonshire on Wednesday, finished in fifth spot to maintain a 1-minute 46-second lead over teammate Marianne Vos, who came home fourth in the Potteries.

Barnes moves up to third overall thanks to the time bonuses and also takes the Adnams Best British Rider Jersey from her sister, Drops rider Alice.

It’s bittersweet. I’m really pleased to be up there in the finish, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to be aggressive and get a good placing like that, but I’d have loved to have finished off the team’s good work today with a win.

I love wearing my national champion’s jersey. It’s one that all the fans look for any every time I put it on I’m really proud. But the Adnams Best British Rider jersey is also really special, so it’s not a bad swap for tomorrow’s stage!

Hannah Barnes

Best British Rider Stage 2 - OVO Energy Women's Tour

The 93-rider field had toiled through wind and rain on the roads of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, in a fast paced stage that started and finished in the city centre.

Marta Bastianelli, Anna Trevisi and Alison Jackson all spent time at the head of the race, but the move of the day came when Lucinda Brand went clear on the steep, lower slopes of the opening SKODA Queen of the Mountains climb at Ipstones.

Trixi Worrack and Christine Majerus spent some time chasing, but all in vain as they were caught by a vastly diminished peloton before the final categorised climb of Gun Hill, with Brand holding her lead until the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent as a thirty plus rider group made contact.

It was a really hard day, we lost a bit of time on the GC yesterday so our goal was to go for the stage win,our team was pretty strong today. Christine [Majerus] got in the front at one point and we were almost all there together going into the finish. We spoke about preparing for a sprint so they could save my energy, and the girls helped me really well in the finale.

The climbs were really tough. The first one was long, the second was really steep and stayed steep all the time. We came back over the top of Gun Hill and I knew it was going to be a sprint. I’m really happy that the girls helped me today.

Amy Pieters

Stage 2 Winner of OVO Women's Tour 2017, Boels Dolman

Two further hilly stages in Warwickshire and Derbyshire are ahead of Katarzyna Niewiadoma on Friday and Saturday, before the flat final stage in London on Sunday.

Ten riders remain within two minutes of Niewiadoma including both Barnes sisters and Dani King.

Cervelo Bigla’s Lisa Klein retained the Eisberg Sprints Jersey while Audrey Cordon-Ragot extended her lead in the SKODA Queen of the Mountains classification, with Brand now her nearest challenger, six points adrift.

I don’t want to overreact or get too confident, but this is another day done, everything can happen, as we saw today. It’s so hard to control it when lots of teams are attacking. I know that everybody wants that OVO Energy Green Jersey, so it’s like one team versus all of the others. It’s a big battle.

There were a lot of times that I thought ‘oh my god, goodbye green jersey’. But you can’t lose hope, I tried to stay relax and calm. I knew that, even if Lucinda was going to stay clear upfront, other teams would want to target the stage win. That meant it wouldn’t be up to us to chase all the time; other teams would feel a responsibility to bring it back.

Katarzyna Niewiadoma

Wiggle Points Jersey Leader, WM3 Pro Cycling

Interview – Amy Pieters, Boels Dolmans Stage 2 winner OVO Womens Tour by Cycling Shorts

Amy Pieters of Boels Dolman chats to the assembled media after her stage 2 win on the OVO Energy Women’s Tour 2017. Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | www.CyclingShorts.cc

Highlights of the second stage of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour are on ITV4 at 23:00 on Thursday 8 June, with a repeat at 10:30 the following morning on the same channel. The highlights will also be available on demand via the ITV Hub catch-up service.

Stage Three on Friday 9 June takes place in Warwickshire, heading south from Atherstone to finish in Royal Leamington Spa. The stage gets underway at 10:00 and is due to finish at around 14:15 on the Parade in Leamington, passing through Kenilworth, Warwick and Wellesbourne along the route.

One week after the OVO Energy Women’s Tour, amateur cyclists will have the chance to ride sections of the Northamptonshire route in the Tour Ride, the official sportive of the race on Sunday 18 June. Riders can take part in 40 or 80-mile routes, starting and finishing at Delapre Abbey in Northamptonshire, or tackle a fun, 10-mile Family Ride.

Stage 2 Results