Great Britain’s Lizzie Deignan became the first rider to win two OVO Energy Women’s Tour titles as she sealed the 2019 crown at Pembrey Country Park, Carmarthenshire, on Saturday.

The Trek Segafredo rider, who only returned to racing in late April following maternity leave, finished eighth in a reduced bunch sprint to pip Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) to the overall crown by two seconds – the smallest winning margin in race history.

Dutch rider Amy Pieters (Boels Dolmans) claimed the final stage, beating Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb) and Roxane Fournier (Movistar Team) to the line. Pieters placed third overall, 23 seconds behind Deignan, while her team-mate Christine Majerus finished fifth to cap a successful week for the Dutch team.

Deignan crossed the line in eighth position in the 33-rider front group to take victory, having doubled her overnight one-second lead thanks to a mid-race time bonus from the Eisberg Sprint at Penygroes.  As well as the OVO Energy Green jersey the Trek Segafredo rider takes the Breast Cancer Care Points jersey through her consistent finishing across the six stages, and the HSBC UK British Cycling Best British Rider jersey.

The stage win for Pieters was her third in OVO Energy Women’s Tour history, being added to previous victories in Stratford-upon-Avon (2016) and Stoke-on-Trent (2017).  With Majerus and double stage victor Jolien D’hoore providing the perfect lead-out, the Dutchwoman was delighted with the win.

Defending OVO Energy Women’s Tour champion Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) took the Eisberg Sprints jersey for a second year, getting into a group of 11 riders that broke away early on the Carmarthenshire route to seal the jersey at the first intermediate Eisberg sprint.

The final classification jersey went to Warwickshire summit finish winner Niewiadoma, who withstood the challenge of Majerus for a one-point advantage in the SKODA Queen of the Mountains jersey, while the aggressive riding of Sarah Roy (Mitchelton Scott) was rewarded with the Wahooligan Combativity Award.

Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths, Carmarthenshire County Council Executive Board Member for Culture Sport and Tourism, said: “The OVO Energy Women’s Tour has been a resounding success, and has been the perfect showcase of our best landscape and cycling facilities.

“As a local authority, we are proud of our significant investment in facilities and infrastructure to support the growing cycling enthusiasm that we’re working so hard to build. Today’s race started at the historic Carmarthen Velodrome, the oldest in the world, and ended at our purpose-built National Closed Road Circuit at Pembrey Country Park.

“We are particularly proud of Manon Lloyd [Drops], who is from Carmarthenshire and who started her cycling career with Towy Riders in Carmarthen. It must have been a fantastic feeling for her to compete with the best in the world on home soil and I hope she felt the strength of the crowd behind her.”

Once more the OVO Energy Women’s Tour will offer prize money parity with the men’s Tour of Britain, thanks to award winning independent energy supplier OVO Energy, the title sponsors for a third edition of the race.

Highlights of Stage Six will be shown on ITV4 at 20:00 on Saturday15 June with a repeat at 06:10 on Sunday 16 June on the same channel.  Programmes will be available on demand via the ITV Hub catch up service and via Eurosport in the UK and around the world.

All images ©CyclingShorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk

Britain’s Lizzie Deignan claimed her first victory since returning from maternity leave in Friday’s fifth OVO Energy Women’s Tour stage in Builth Wells, Powys, to move into the race lead with just one stage remaining. 

Deignan, the race’s 2016 champion, out-sprinted Thursday’s stage victor Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and her Trek-Segafredo team-mate Elisa Longo Borghini in the Royal Welsh Showground after the trio broke clear on the day’s final SKODA Queen of the Mountains climb of Eypnt with approximately 22 kilometres remaining.

The Yorkshire rider leads Niewiadoma by just one second going into Saturday’s finale in Carmarthenshire, with Boels Dolmans rider Amy Pieters a further 31 seconds in arrears. In addition to retaining her lead in the HSBC UK | British Cycling Best British Rider jersey, Deignan also moves to the top of the standings in the Breast Cancer Care points jersey.

Niewiadoma’s efforts on the climbs see her take the lead in the SKODA Queen of the Mountains jersey, while 2018 overall champion Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) retains the Eisberg sprints jersey.

Overnight race leader Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb) finished 22nd, losing two minutes and 19 seconds to fall away in the overall classification and lose her OVO Energy green jersey.

The German had been in the main pack featuring all of the general classification contenders approaching the final SKODA Queen of the Mountains climb of Epynt, before the race was sparked into life by the aggressive riding of Trek-Segafredo duo Deignan and Longo Borghini.

That saw the final two riders from the day’s breakaway, Erica Magnaldi (WNT – Rotor Pro Cycling) and Amalie Dideriksen (Boels Dolmans), reeled in and the chasing pack splintered, with just 20 riders reaching the Royal Welsh Showground within two minutes of Deignan.

First over the summit of the Epynt climb moved Niewiadoma into the SKODA Queen of the Mountains climb, with a one-point advantage over previous incumbent Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans).

The world’s best riders will tackle a 125.9-kilometre (79-mile) stage between Carmarthen and Pembrey Country Park on day six of Britain’s most prestigious women’s cycle race (Saturday 15 June).

In a first for the Women’s Tour, the field of Olympic, world and national champions will notably complete a lap of the Carmarthen Velodrome as part of the stage’s ceremonial start, as well as taking in part of Pembrey’s new, closed-road cycle circuit on the approach to the finish line.

Once more the OVO Energy Women’s Tour will offer prize money parity with the men’s Tour of Britain, thanks to award winning independent energy supplier OVO Energy, the title sponsors for a third edition of the race.

Highlights of Stage Five will be shown on ITV4 at 20:00 on Friday 14 June with a repeat at 06:25 on Saturday 15 June on the same channel.  Programmes will be available on demand via the ITV Hub catch up service and via Eurosport in the UK and around the world.

All images ©CyclingShorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk