The pace in the final stage of the Baloise Ladies Tour was again very high. The stage that started and finished in Zulte was 121 kilometres long and had several short cobbled sections, climbs and two intermediate sprints. In the final stage, the ladies of Team Jumbo-Visma were once again able to run in front of the peloton. With a strong sprint train, the black-and-yellow formation positioned Henderson in front for the first intermediate sprint. In the battle for the bonification seconds, the British rider finished second.

After several attacks, Team Jumbo-Visma Women prepared for a bunch sprint with the rest of the peloton. Just like in previous sprints, the team formed a strong lead-out, this time for Van den Bos. However, the Dutch rider came up just short and had to settle for fourth place. Anna Henderson kept her third place in the general classification.

“Unfortunately we didn’t manage to win a stage, but as a team we can be proud and happy with the steps we made in the past few days. The lead-outs for the bonification seconds and final were good again today. This is where we have made a lot of progress over the past few stages.”

Sports director Lieselot Decroix: “The team executed the plan today as we had planned it. We wanted to sprint for the bonification seconds to let Anna win the general classification. The first lead-out went perfect, but unfortunately there was always someone who was faster. In the end Anna kept her third place, which is a great achievement. We have grown a lot as a team in this stage race. The confidence in each other has become even better and we got a lot of motivation for the next races.”