'Last year we focused a lot on GC and then it didn't happen like that' – Wiebes cautious over Tour of Britain overall bid

'Last year we focused a lot on GC and then it didn't happen like that' – Wiebes cautious over Tour of Britain overall bid

The stage one winner will assess her overall prospects day by day, with SD Worx-Protime able to pursue stage wins and protect several potential GC riders.

By Tim Bonville-Ginn · · 3 min read

Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) is keeping her Tour of Britain Women GC options open after winning stage one in Cockermouth on Wednesday.

The Dutch sprinting star extended her record as the race’s most successful rider and took the green leader’s jersey. However, she remained cautious about whether she could defend it all the way to the finish.

"I want to see it day by day because last year we focused a lot on GC and then it didn't happen like that," Wiebes told Velora. "But it will be a super tough finish."

That test comes on stage three at The Great Orme, identified in our race preview as the main challenge for the overall contenders. The final 2.5km averages about 6%, with ramps approaching 15%.

Results

Aug 19

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Lorena Wiebes
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME4:03:09
🥈
Chiara Consonni
CANYON//SRAM +0:00
🥉
Josie Nelson
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
4
Quinty Ton
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+0:00
5
Caroline Andersson
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+0:00
6
Letizia Borghesi
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+0:00
7
Karlijn Swinkels
UAE TEAM L'IMAD+0:00
8
Liane Lippert
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
9
Mischa Bredewold
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+0:00
10
Fleur Moors
LIDL - TREK+0:00
11
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini
UAE TEAM L'IMAD+0:00
12
Marte Berg Edseth
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
13
Eva van Agt
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+0:00
14
Flora Perkins
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+0:00
15
Juliana Londoño David
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
16
Pfeiffer Zara Georgi
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
17
Margot Vanpachtenbeke
LIDL - TREK+0:00
18
Anna Morris
-+0:00
19
Lauren Dickson
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+0:00
20
Francesca Barale
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
21
Shirin van Anrooij
LIDL - TREK+0:00
22
Mary Patricia Kimberley le Court de Billot - Pienaar
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+0:00
23
Cecilie Ludwig
CANYON//SRAM +0:00
24
Lotte Kopecky
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+0:00
25
Kate Courtney
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+0:00
26
Femke de Vries
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
27
Riejanne Markus
LIDL - TREK+0:00
28
Ricarda Bauernfeind
LIDL - TREK+0:00
29
Julia Kopecký
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+0:00
30
Steffi Häberlin
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+0:00
31
Aude Biannic
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
32
Maud Oudeman
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
33
Nienke Veenhoven
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:28
34
Lucia Ruiz Perez
MOVISTAR TEAM+2:28
35
Maggie Coles-Lyster
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+2:28
36
Noa Jansen
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+2:28
37
Morven Yeoman
DAS-HUTCHINSON+2:28
38
Alice Madeleine Towers
-+2:28
39
Oda Aune Gissinger
HITEC PRODUCTS-FLUID CONTROL+2:28
40
Karlijn Koops
O'SHEA RED CHILLI BIKES+2:28
41
Magdalene Lind
HITEC PRODUCTS-FLUID CONTROL+2:28
42
Ida Krickau Ketelsen
O'SHEA RED CHILLI BIKES+2:28
43
Marta Jaskulska
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+2:28
44
Alberte Greve
UNO-X MOBILITY+2:28
45
Imogen Wolff
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:28
46
Wilma Aintila
CANYON//SRAM +2:28
47
Iurani Blanco Calbet
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+2:28
48
Lara Gillespie
UAE TEAM L'IMAD+2:28
49
Katie Scott
DAS-HUTCHINSON+2:28
50
Sara Martin Martin
MOVISTAR TEAM+2:28
51
Alessia Vigilia
UNO-X MOBILITY+2:28
52
Marthe Truyen
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+2:28
53
Marit Raaijmakers
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+2:28
54
Josie Talbot
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+2:28
55
Erica Magnaldi
UAE TEAM L'IMAD+2:28
56
Noemie Thomson
DAS-HUTCHINSON+2:28
57
Ally Marée Wollaston
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+2:28
58
Nina Buijsman
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+2:28
59
Amandine Fouquenet
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+2:28
60
Femke Gerritse
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+2:28
61
Audrey de Keersmaeker
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+2:28
62
Ingvild Gåskjenn
UNO-X MOBILITY+2:28
63
Justyna Czapla
CANYON//SRAM +2:28
64
Vittoria Guazzini
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+2:28
65
Léa Curinier
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+2:28
66
Katrine Aalerud
UNO-X MOBILITY+2:28
67
Claire Steels
MOVISTAR TEAM+2:28
68
Soraya Paladin
CANYON//SRAM +2:28
69
Zoe Backstedt
CANYON//SRAM +2:28
70
Millie Couzens
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+2:28
71
Aniek van Alphen
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+2:28
72
S'annara Grove
SMURFIT WESTROCK CYCLING TEAM+8:28
73
Alma Rasmussen
HITEC PRODUCTS-FLUID CONTROL+8:28
74
Amalie Cooper
-+8:28
75
Anna Flynn
HANDSLING ALBA DEVELOPMENT ROAD TEAM+8:28
76
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+8:28
77
Febe Jooris
UAE TEAM L'IMAD+8:28
78
Madelaine Leech
HANDSLING ALBA DEVELOPMENT ROAD TEAM+8:28
79
Marthe Goossens
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+8:28
80
Tiffany Keep
DAS-HUTCHINSON+8:28
81
Amber Pate
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+8:28
82
Clara Copponi
LIDL - TREK+8:28
83
Alexandra Grace Manly
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+8:28
84
Georgia Baker
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+8:28
85
Dilyxine Miermont
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+8:28
86
Daniela Hezinová
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+8:28
87
Mieke Docx
DAS-HUTCHINSON+8:28
88
Julia Borgström
HITEC PRODUCTS-FLUID CONTROL+8:28
89
Fien van Eynde
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+8:28
90
Beth Morrow
HANDSLING ALBA DEVELOPMENT ROAD TEAM+8:28
91
Margaux Vigie
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+8:28
92
Ruby Oakes
-+10:13
93
Grace Lister
HANDSLING ALBA DEVELOPMENT ROAD TEAM+10:13
94
Teuntje Beekhuis
UNO-X MOBILITY+10:13
95
Elynor Backstedt
UAE TEAM L'IMAD+10:13
96
Arabella Blackburn
HANDSLING ALBA DEVELOPMENT ROAD TEAM+12:10
97
Matilda Mckibben
O'SHEA RED CHILLI BIKES+12:10
98
Madeline Cooper
HANDSLING ALBA DEVELOPMENT ROAD TEAM+12:10
99
Yilla Threels
O'SHEA RED CHILLI BIKES+17:15
100
Leila Gschwentner
SMURFIT WESTROCK CYCLING TEAM+19:28
101
Jo Tindley
SMURFIT WESTROCK CYCLING TEAM+19:28
102
Stine-Marie Snortheim
HITEC PRODUCTS-FLUID CONTROL+19:28
103
Lucy Lee
DAS-HUTCHINSON+24:18
104
Petra Stiasny
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+24:18
105
Amelia Cebak
SMURFIT WESTROCK CYCLING TEAM+32:25
106
Teniel Campbell
SMURFIT WESTROCK CYCLING TEAM+32:48

SD Worx-Protime does not have to build the race entirely around Wiebes. "It will be a super tough finish, but we have also, for example, Misha and Lotte who can go for GC, and also Steffi," Wiebes said. "We see day by day, and we keep on racing, keep on trying, win stages, and then we see what we have in the end."

The team showed its strength in numbers and tactical flexibility on the opening day, with riders following attacks before focusing on Wiebes for the sprint once the climbs were over.

"At one point we also said, like, now we focus on the sprint," she said. "Then I also know that they committed fully to me, and that is a nice feeling that we have in the team."

Wiebes said that trust was central to the team’s success, although she rejected the idea that her presence made victory inevitable. A positioning error, a disrupted lead-out or being boxed in can prevent even the fastest rider from launching a sprint.

"In a split second, if I do something wrong, I get boxed in and I'm not able to sprint," she said. "You can have a super strong team around you, but you still need to do it together."

Team continues to contest Giro disqualification

We asked Wiebes whether the team had changed its procedures following her disqualification from the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women earlier this year.

She crossed the line first in Ravenna but was removed from the results after commissaires judged her bike to be below the UCI's 6.8kg minimum. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) inherited the victory and the first Maglia Rosa.

SD Worx-Protime said the bike registered 6.78kg, 20 grams below the limit, but disputed the weighing process after two post-race readings differed by more than 50 grams.

"When you have a new bike, you need to weigh everything again, because it's a new bike," Wiebes said. "There are also still things that didn't [go] correct with the scale in the Giro.”

"That's something I'm not thinking about so much at the moment, and that's something for the team to fight against."

Tim Bonville-Ginn headshot

Tim Bonville-Ginn

Pro cycling contributor

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked in cycling for well over a decade with his articles being featured across publications such as Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Cyclist, Rouleur, Eurosport, Road cc, Domestique, and more.

As well as writing, Tim has worked as a social media and press manager for professional teams Human Powered Health, Global 6, and Saint Piran across Europe as well as commentating on races such as the African Continental Championships, Tour de Feminin and multiple rounds of the British road and circuit series for Golazo and Monument Cycling.

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