Lorena Wiebes ahead of stage 1 at the Tour of Scandinavia 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes, Elisa Balsamo pass late-race attacker Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig on the line during stage 1 at the Tour of Scandinavia(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes wears the overall leader's jersey after winning stage 1 at the Tour of Scandinavia(Image credit: Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton passing through Halden Village on stage 1 at the Tour of Scandinavia(Image credit: Getty Images)
Annemiek van Vleuten speaks with the media ahead of stage 1 at the Tour of Scandinavia(Image credit: Getty Images)
Letizia Borghesi during stage 1 at the Tour of Scandinavia(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx) has won stage 1 of the Tour of Scandinavia, beating Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) in the sprint after an exciting final where 2022 overall winner Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) kept an attack going all the way into the final metres of the stage.
Uttrup Ludwig had gone with Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) when the German champion attacked on the climb to Fredriksten on the finishing circuit, and when the chasing group had almost caught the duo, Lippert dropped back.
Uttrup Ludwig, however, accelerated again and went solo for the last 3.7 kilometres, taking a four-second advantage on the final kilometre. It looked like the Danish climber could hold off the peloton until Balsamo launched her sprint 200 metres from the line with Wiebes on her wheel.
The European champion came past Balsamo with 100 metres to go, and on the last 25 metres, both passed Uttrup Ludwig, who held on for third place. With the stage win, Wiebes also takes the yellow jersey for the overall lead.
“It was quite hectic after the climb because everyone was on the limit, Liane was in the front with Cecilie, and when a small peloton closed it, Cecilie went again. She held on for a long time, but luckily enough for me, it was good timing. I wasn’t sure we would make it, but I always go for the sprint anyway, and then I will see how the result is. I am happy to be back sprinting after a period of sickness, so for me, it was also a question of how the legs will be. But they are good,” Wiebes said.
How it unfolded
After a lap in the countryside around the starting town of Mysen, the peloton went southwards towards Halden, the hometown of the Tour of Scandinavia and its predecessor, the Ladies Tour of Norway.
For most of the stage, Tiril Jørgensen (Team Coop-Hitec Products) was on a solo breakaway, having dropped Femke Beuling (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) on the first classified climb and continuing on her own.
The Norwegian had an advantage of up to 3:30 minutes but was eventually reeled in just before Halden, where two-and-a-half laps of a technical finishing circuit awaited the peloton.
After crossing the finish line for the first time with 17 km to go, riders had to tackle the climb to the fortress of Fredriksten overlooking the town twice. On the first ascent, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick Step) put in an acceleration, then followed by an attack by Élise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) that broke the peloton apart.
Chabbey was first at the top to take the mountain jersey, leading a group of six that also included Moolman-Pasio, Lippert, Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx), Uttrup Ludwig, and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team).
More riders returned on the descent to form a front group of 17, from which Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) made a shortlived attack. Her teammate Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka made the next move over the cobbles of Rødsveien and was 29 seconds ahead with one lap to go.
Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) set the pace at the start of the second climb to Fredriksten, and Lippert then made her move with Uttrup Ludwig immediately jumping on her wheel. They quickly passed Skalniak-Sójka and crested the climb with an eight-second advantage on a chase group of seven, more riders following close behind.
These groups merged on the descent, and Canyon-SRAM closed the gap to the front duo. However, as Lippert sat up through a corner, a gap opened up again behind Uttrup Ludwig, who wasted no time and accelerated to pull away again.
On the last 3.7 kilometres, Uttrup Ludwig kept a gap of a few seconds, but eventually, the sprints from Balsamo and Wiebes doomed her bid for a surprise stage victory on the Dane’s birthday.
In addition to the general classification, Wiebes also leads the points classification, but the green points jersey will be worn by Balsamo on stage 2. Megan Jastrab (Team DSM-Firmenich) will wear the white jersey as the best U23 rider.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
