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

Canyon//SRAM Racing’s Kasia Niewiadoma made light of inclement conditions to win the OVO Energy Women’s Tour’s first hill-top finish at Burton Dassett Country Park, Warwickshire, on Wednesday.

The Polish rider, who won the 2017 race, outsprinted Team Sunweb’s Liane Lippert after the duo had broken away from the peloton with Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) on the first of three ascents of Burton Dassett.

Longo Borghini’s team-mate Lizzie Deignan finished third on the stage, while German rider Lippert replaces her compatriot Lisa Brennauer (WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling) in the OVO Energy green jersey of race leader with just two stages in Wales to come.

Lippert moves into the OVO Energy Green jersey, although on equal time with Niewiadoma, and was surprised to take the lead.

A trio of riders – Charlotte Becker (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope), Femke Markus (Parkhotel Valkenburg) and last year’s Warwickshire winner Sarah Roy (Mitchelton-SCOTT) – built an eight-minute lead.  Becker was the first to lose contact from the front on the day’s second SKODA Queen of the Mountains climb with Markus and Roy being caught before the second passage of the finish line at Burton Dassett.

Roy’s efforts earned her the Wahooligan Combativity Award, while Niewiadoma’s victory moves her to within a point of Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans) in the SKODA Queen of the Mountains jersey.

Both the Eisberg Sprints jersey and HSBC UK British Cycling Best British Rider jersey remained on the shoulders of Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) and Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) going into stage five.

Highlights of Stage Four will be shown on ITV4 at 20:00 on Thursday 13 June with a repeat at 06:25 on Friday 14 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.

The OVO Energy Women’s Tour moves to Wales for stage five on Friday 14 June with Powys hosting the penultimate stage of the race from Llandrindod Wells to Builth Wells.  Supported by the Welsh Government, the 140-kilometre (87-mile) route through Powys – the first time the county has welcomed the Women’s Tour – features the SKODA Queen of the Mountains climbs of Gorddwr Bank and Pennau along its unrelenting course.

The total elevation gain of 2,206 metres makes stage five of this year’s race the hardest in the event’s history.

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

Boels Dolmans Cycling Team’s Jolien D’hoore continued her strong start to this year’s OVO Energy Women’s Tour as she sprinted to victory at historic Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, on Wednesday to claim her second win in three days.

D’hoore, wearing the Breast Cancer Care points jersey, edged out Lisa Brennauer (WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling) by a narrow margin to add to Monday’s victory in Stowmarket, Suffolk.

Brennaeur’s reward for the time bonuses she has accrued in this year’s race thus far is the OVO Energy green jersey of race leader.

Overnight race leader Marianne Vos was one of a number of riders forced to abandon mid-stage following a crash near Didcot. The Dutch rider required treatment to cuts on her face.

Trek Segafredo rider Anna Plichta earned the Wahooligan Combativity Award for a long solo break of just under 100 kilometres, one that saw her escape shortly after the opening SKODA Queen of the Mountains climb at Pishill above Henley-on-Thames in south Oxfordshire. She was eventually caught at Alvescot in west Oxfordshire with 41 kilometres remaining.

Brennauer’s runners up position moves her back into the lead of the race she won in 2015.

Interview – Lisa Brennauer OVO Women’s Tour Green Jersey Stage 3 by Cycling Shorts

Lisa talks to the media after taking the Green Jersey on Stage 3 of the OVO Energey Women’sTour 2019. ©All content CyclingShorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk

Highlights of Stage Three will be shown on ITV4 at 20:00 on Wednesday 12 June with a repeat at 06:25 on Thursday 13 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.

The OVO Energy Women’s Tour moves a short distance north to Warwickshire on Thursday 13 June for Stage Four, featuring the first hill-top finish in race history.  Riders will race from Warwick to Burton Dassett Country Park, with three ascents of the 1.2 kilometre climb coming in the closing stages of the 158.9 kilometre / 98.9 mile stage.

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