Belgian rider Jolien D’hoore sprinted to victory on the opening day of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour which comes to Powys on Friday.
The Boels Dolmans Cycling Team rider’s victory in Suffolk was the second straight year she had won its opening stage.
D’hoore, winner in Southwold 12 month ago, led home Dutch team-mate Amy Pieters in Stowmarket to take the first OVO Energy green jersey of this year’s race.
On Friday the riders will set off from Llandrindod Wells on Friday for a 140km loop of Powys, taking them across to Knuckles and Beguildy and all the way down to Epynt, on the outskirts of Brecon, before finishing just seven miles from where they started at the Royal Welsh Showground at Llanelwedd near Builth Wells.
Speaking after her victory today, D’hoore said, “It was a pretty good day for us, I’m feeling alright, I did Bira two weeks ago and then straight after Thüringen, it’s pretty hard but now I’m feeling pretty good and it was pretty hard and I’m happy I could show it today with the stage win. The team was really strong, and they brought me actually to the perfect position going into the sprint and they dropped me off at 150 to go and Amy Pieters got second herself, so it really proves that we are a strong team here.”
Having now taken three of her four stage wins in the OVO Energy Women’s Tour in the East of England, the Belgian continued, “I think I like Suffolk now. It’s really nice and also last year was the first stage so there’s the advantage of having all the jerseys now, so I really like it and today a bunch sprint was expected and I am happy it was this way.”
In addition to the race lead, D’hoore also takes the initial lead in the Breast Cancer Care Points Jersey, while Boels Dolmans team-mate Christine Majerus leads the SKODA Queen of the Mountains Jersey.
Defending champion Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) began her campaign by taking the Eisberg Sprints jersey on day one and with it six seconds of time bonuses.
Highlights of Stage One will be shown on ITV4 at 20:00 on Monday 10 June with a repeat at 06:25 on Tuesday 11 June on the same channel. Programmes will be available on demand via the ITV Hub catch up service and via Eurosport in the UK and around the world.
Cyclopark will make OVO Energy Women’s Tour history this June as it hosts the race’s first-ever Kent stage.
Outlining the race’s support for existing cycle infrastructure in Great Britain, the world’s best riders will tackle a 62.5-kilometre (25-lap) kermesse around the Gravesend circuit on Tuesday 11 June – day two of the 2019 race.
This stage will see Kent play host to its biggest international sporting event since the 2007 Tour de France Grand Depart.
The OVO Energy Women’s Tour concludes in Carmarthenshire on Saturday, June 15.