Kasia Niewiadoma outsprinted Liane Lippert for victory
Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma defied atrocious conditions to win the first ever hilltop finish at the Ovo Energy Women’s Tour on Thursday, with Lizzie Deignan third over the line at Burton Dassett Country Park in Warwickshire to set up an intriguing final two days.
Deignan, who is returning from the birth of her first child last autumn, had begun the day four seconds off the race lead which was then held by WNT’s Lisa Brennauer. But after the huge crash which accounted for a number of riders including the race leader Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv) on Wednesday, Thursday’s rain-drenched fourth stage featured another shake-up of the general classification
Niewadoma (Canyon-Sram) eventually outsprinted Liane Lippert (Sunweb) after the duo had broken away from the peloton along with Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) on the first of three ascents of Burton Dassett.
“I felt like a piece of crap,” Niewadoma admitted afterwards. “I felt so bad because of the rain and cold. But once you attack you go into this weird suffering mode, you forget about everything and you just want to get to the line first.
“Once I crossed the finish line, I thought about this morning’s conversation with my boyfriend [professional rider Taylor Phinney] because he woke up and told me I was going to win today. He doesn’t say that often. I thought: ‘OK, he believes in me’.”
Lippert’s consolation for losing the sprint was that she took race leader’s green jersey, with Niewadoma in second place, on exactly the same time, and Deignan third, just three seconds back.
“I was already on the team bus when I heard I was in the leader’s jersey and I had to climb off and everyone was cheering for me, it was funny,” Lippert said.
“I went all out and saw Kasia in front of me. I tried to get closer but she was super strong and I’m happy with my second place. I first need to realise what just happened. I’m in the leader’s jersey now and it’s my first UCI Women’s WorldTour podium finish ever. I have a really strong team. Now I’m in the jersey but we’ll see. I hope to [win the overall], I will try my best.”
There are two big stages to come, beginning with Friday’s test from Llandrindod Wells to Builth Wells in mid-Wales. The 87-mile route through Powys promises to be the hardest in the race’s history with a total elevation gain of 2,206 metres.
