“I’m super happy with this victory,” Nooijen said with a big smile. “I felt really good today and it’s great to be able to put in such a strong time trial. It’s been a tough few weeks, but being able to win twice already feels really good.”

The third day of the Eneco Tour featured an important test against the clock. In the time trial of just over 13 kilometres through Tilburg, Chladoňová set the first benchmark with a time of 17:31, before the wait began for De Vries and Nooijen.

De Vries showed her good form on the course, setting the fastest time of 17:21. However, her teammate Nooijen was still to come. The reigning Dutch road race champion clocked 16:56 at the finish and proved to be by far the strongest rider. Nooijen therefore took over the lead in the general classification, while De Vries also moved up into the upper reaches of the standings.

A number of tricky stages await in the coming days, and Nooijen will do everything she can to defend her leader’s jersey. “With tomorrow’s stage in Limburg and the stage over the VAM-berg, we still have a number of tough days ahead. But I’m feeling good and we have an incredibly strong team here. We’ll do everything we can to defend the leader’s jersey.”

Nineteen-year-old Chladoňová also looked back on her time trial positively. “The prologue was too short for me and quite tricky, but this suits me much better. I felt really good and I’m happy with today’s result!”