Veenhoven looked back with satisfaction on the team’s work today: “We all started the second stage of the day with a lot of motivation. As a team, we were always well positioned at the key points, we really did that very well.”

Stage 3B was raced over a flat course that was controlled by the peloton throughout the afternoon. A number of attacks were given limited room, but thanks to the work of several teams, the gap remained manageable.

As the finale approached, the tension continued to build and the sprint trains prepared for a fast and technical finish. Team Visma | Lease a Bike kept a cool head and brought Veenhoven into an excellent position in the final kilometers. The team positioned her perfectly heading into the finishing straight, after which the Dutch rider launched her sprint at exactly the right moment. With a powerful acceleration, Veenhoven gave her rivals no chance and sprinted convincingly to victory. “The communication was once again excellent today and everyone started with the same plan in mind. It was really great to see and gave me extra motivation to go for it again,” said Veenhoven.

“I think tomorrow will be another sprint, but there will undoubtedly be some hard racing,” she looked ahead. “It’s the final day, so there will certainly be riders who still want to try something to move up in the general classification. We’ll have to stay sharp as a team throughout the day.”

The day began with a short but explosive individual time trial. Chladoňová rode a strong time trial and set an excellent time that stood for a long period. As a result, the Slovak national champion was able to spend considerable time in the hot seat. It was only late in the race that her performance was surpassed, and she eventually finished in eleventh place.

Thanks to the bonus seconds and her stage victory, Veenhoven has moved back up to third place in the general classification. This puts Team Visma | Lease a Bike in an excellent position heading into tomorrow’s final stage.