The third stage of the Dutch stage race featured several challenging climbs. Team Visma | Lease a Bike put in a strong performance and played a key role in splitting up the peloton midway through the race. Femke de Vries picked up two bonus seconds for the general classification along the way and responded attentively to several attacks from the peloton.

In the closing stages, Markus managed to open up a gap. With one kilometer remaining, the SD Worx rider had built a 30-second advantage, which proved enough to secure the stage victory. Nooijen finished strongly on the uphill run to the line but had to settle for second place, narrowly missing out on her third stage win of this year's Eneco Tour.

"I'm disappointed that I didn't win. I came close in the end, but it wasn't quite enough to take the victory", Nooijen said afterward. "As a team, we rode a really strong race today. We had everything under control and were able to stick to our own tactics. When Femke attacked, maybe we should have reacted a little earlier. I think I would have had a really good chance if we had started chasing sooner."

Another challenging stage awaits the riders tomorrow, with a summit finish on the VAM-berg. "Today's result definitely gives us confidence heading into tomorrow's stage. We'll do everything we can to defend the leader's jersey."