Marianne Vos wins Tour of Scandinavia stage 1 sprint

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Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) put another entry in the history books on Tuesday, becoming the first winner of the new six-day Women’s WorldTour race, the Tour of Scandinavia. after sprinting to victory on the opening stage through Denmark.

After a stage through Nordsjælland, that did not see any real breakaway, the sprinters' teams took control in the final to ensure a sprint. Trek-Segafredo put the whole team on the front to lead out their Danish sprinter Amalie Dideriksen, but Dideriksen started her sprint very early and faltered in the final 100 metres to finish sixth.

There was no faltering for Vos, though, who was quick to put Sunday's disqualification for the momentary lapse into the banned ‘puppy paw position’ at PostNord Vårgårda WestSweden Road Race behind her. The Dutch rider timed her sprint perfectly and surged along the barriers to win the stage ahead of Megan Jastrab (Team DSM) and Shari Bossuyt (Canyon-SRAM).

As a result Vos also takes the first yellow jersey of the Scandinavian stage race, which was built on the foundation of the Ladies Tour of Norway. She is now four seconds ahead of Jastrab thanks to time bonifications.

"It was really fast coming into the last kilometre, there were different leadouts next to each other. We were a little bit stuck behind with my team, but we knew that we had to stay calm and find the right moment to pass. I was behind the train of Trek, Linda Riedmann led me there and kept the space for me so I could save energy as long as possible. In the last 200 metres, I was in the right wheel, launched my sprint and just hoped for the best," said Vos.

She had not saved energy the whole day, though, helping her teammate Amber Kraak to take the mountain jersey. 

"I just wanted to race well and do something for the team," said Vos. "We had the plan to try to take the mountain jersey with Amber, and then you need to put in energy as well, and you never know if it's going to be enough for the final sprint. But she always works for the team, so it's nice to do something in support of her, and today both plans worked out. It is going to be difficult to keep both jerseys tomorrow, it's tough every day, but we are motivated to try our best."

How it unfolded

The team presentation on Kongens Nytorv in the centre of Copenhagen was followed by a neutral zone out of the city with the flag being dropped as the race left the suburbs.

The first intermediate sprint on Geels Bakke, the finish line of the 2011 World Championships, was won by Nina Kessler (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), and Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg) went on the attack after the sprint, winning the mountain sprint on Søllerød Slotsbakke after 17 km. Gerritse was caught again soon, and there was no real breakaway for the rest of the stage.

Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra) won the second intermediate sprint in Hillerød with 90 km to go. There were many attempts to get away on the twisty roads that followed, but none of them lasted longer than a few minutes.

Reaching the finishing circuit around Helsingør for two laps à 14.8 km, the peloton got ready for the second mountain sprint of the day. Vos led her teammate Kraak up the climb to take maximum points. Vos herself was second ahead of Gerritse, securing the mountain jersey for her teammate.

On the plateau after the climb, GC favourite Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) put in an attack with Danish champion Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ SUEZ Futuroscope) on her wheel, but they did not get away, and the pace slowed down again.

With one lap to go, Jackson won the last intermediate sprint to take the points jersey, a jersey that the Canadian rider always targeted at the Ladies Tour of Norway.

Vollering, Vos, Uttrup Ludwig, and Floortje Mackaij (Team DSM) attacked over the top of the climb on the last lap but did not get away. The counterattack by Eva van Agt (Le Col-Wahoo), Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx), Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo), and Valerie Demey (Liv Racing Xstra) was also neutralised right away.

On the final kilometres, Trek-Segafredo took control to lead out Dideriksen, but the finishing straight was too long for the Dane, and Vos launched from her wheel to take the stage and the yellow jersey. Runner-up Jastrab will wear the white U23 jersey on stage 2.