Zoe Bäckstedt continues to shine at the Simac Ladies Tour, retaining her lead in the general and youth classifications at the halfway point of the six-day stage race. The CANYON//SRAM Racing rider has led the tour from the outset with a powerful win in the individual time trial opening stage on Tuesday. In the following two flat road stages, Zoe showed calmness and poise beyond her twenty years of age, finishing in the lead group and keeping hold of her grip on the overall leader jersey.

Zoe Bäckstedt: “Today’s stage was brutal from kilometre zero with echelons and attacks. The first time i looked down at my Hammerhead computer it was after an hour and I thought we were only around twenty minutes into the race. Thankfully, when the important break went, I was in position and made it into the front group.”

“The final kilometres were again really hard. From the start of the final lap, there were many attacks, and I tried my best to stay calm and hope that no rider could get too big of a gap. Coming into the sprint, I found myself not in the best position. I tried to do what I could to move myself up, but the pace was high, with SD Worx having all seven riders doing a lead-out. The final roundabout was still 500m from the line, so from there, it was just a case of pushing and trying to limit the gaps between the front and myself.”

“I expect another fast stage tomorrow and a fast final. My aim is to be up there in the final. It’s a case of following wheels and trying not to lose any seconds.”

Today’s stage three was won by Lorena Wiebes (SDW) with Zoe finishing in fourteenth place from a front group of just twenty-two riders. Zoe leads the general classification by three seconds from Lotte Kopecky (SDW), and the youth classification by fifty-seven seconds. Tomorrow’s stage four is a three-lap circuit around the town of Ede.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The action from the Simac Ladies Tour can be followed on X with #SLT2024 and #SimacLadies Tour, and a broadcast can be found on NOS, Eurosport and Discovery+.

Stage 4 | Friday 11 October | Ede – Ede | Broadcast 15:00CEST.

Stage 5 | Saturday 12 October | Doetinchem – Doetinchem | Broadcast 16:00CEST.

Stage 6 | Sunday 13 October | Arnhem – Arnhem | Broadcast 16:00CEST.

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