Report: Women’s Tour of Scotland

Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) is the first rider to wear the Baillie Gifford Yellow Jersey as she won the second stage of the Women’s Tour of Scotland in Perth

Report: Women’s Tour of Scotland

Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) is the first rider to wear the Baillie Gifford Yellow Jersey as she claimed a sensational stage win at the Women’s Tour of Scotland in Perth.

With an impressive sprint in the final 200m, she capped off what was a thrilling day of racing on day two. A bunch sprint finish through the packed streets of Perth also saw 21-year-old Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) and Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) earn a place on the podium going into the final stage in Edinburgh on Sunday.

Earlier in the stage it looked like there could be one main contender for the Baillie Gifford Leaders Jersey, with Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) holding a 1 minute 45 second lead ahead of the peloton around the 90km mark, but she was quickly caught by the remaining riders as the race headed for an exhilarating finish. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla) held on to the EventScotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey for a second successive stage after her team’s impressive performance on the climb, while her teammate Leah Thomas tops the Motorola Solutions Queen of Sprints competition standings. Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling) took the Deloitte Best Young Rider Jersey for her second-placed effort.

The Glasgow crowds flocked in their hundreds to George Square on Saturday morning to cheer on the 87 riders as they set off for Stage 2 towards Perth. Three riders attempted to go clear at 17km but the peloton reacted quickly to keep the main field together going into the first sprint of the stage in Aberfoyle.

37.8km Aberfoyle sprint (Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey competition):
1. (5pts) Neah Evans (Scotland)
2. (3pts) Annelies Dom (Lotto-Soudal)
3. (2pts) Chiara Consonni (Valcar Cylance Cycling)
4. (1pts) Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)

It was the first climb of the stage that caused the first split with 35 riders going clear, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla) taking the eight points in the Queen of the Mountains jersey competition.

45km Duke’s Pass climb (Event Scotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey competition):
1. (8pts) Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla)
2. (6pts) Elise Chabbey (Bigla)
3. (4pts) Joscelin Lowden (DROPS)
4. (2pts) Leah Thomas (Bigla)
5. (1pt) Vita Heine (Norway National Team)

The gruelling 4km-long Duke’s Pass ascent caused the peloton to splinter into several groups. Eight riders broke off at the front with 23 Elise Chabbey, 24 Nikola Noskova, 25 Mikayla Harvey and 26 Leah Thomas of Bigla all amongst the pack, alongside 36 Joscelin Lowden (DROPS), 64 Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally UHC), 71 Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) and 121 Stine Borgli (Norway National Team).

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At 50km, the leading group had a 15-second advantage ahead of the next rider, 122 Vita Heine (Norway National Team) and 1m 5 secs ahead of the peloton, before Heine caught up with the leaders. Five kilometres further into the Trossachs trail, the nine leaders had taken a 1 minute 15 secs lead over chaser 94 Ursa Pintar (BTC City Ljubljana) who was quickly caught by the peloton.

At 70km, the leading group were 1 minute and 29 secs ahead of the peloton as they approached the Strathyre sprint – won by Leah Thomas, allowing her to wear the Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey for day three.

71.4km Strathyre sprint (Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey competition):
1. (5pts) Leah Thomas (Bigla)
2. (3pts) Stine Borgli (Norway National Team)
3. (2pts) Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally UHC Cycling)
4. (1pts) Elise Chabbey (Bigla)

110.4km Crieff sprint (Motorola Solutions Queen of the Sprints Jersey competition):
1. (5pts) Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
2. (3pts) Eugenia Bujak (BTC City Ljubljana)
3. (2pts) Ahreum Na (Ale Cipollini)
4. (1pts) Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)

The peloton pushed on and the final stretch of the race made for an incredible chase as Brodie Chapman’s lead was cut from 1 minute 45 seconds to just nine seconds with 10km left to ride.
As the riders approached Perth, Chapman was caught by the peloton and the final 3km into the city centre turned into a bunch sprint, with Chapman’s Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank teammate Alison Jackson edging over the finish line, with Emma White (Rally UHC) and Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) close behind in second and third.

Rider reactions

Stage 2 winner Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) said: “Myself and my team came here wanting to win. We knew we could do that by winning stages. We were ready to win yesterday’s, if it weren’t for the rain, but today we managed to achieve our goal. We really played the game. When you have your teammates all in the right place, you know you will be able to win the sprint. I’m really happy about the result, not just for myself individually, but for the whole team.”

Emma White (Rally UHC), who was awarded the Best Young Rider Jersey after finishing in second, said: “I am so pleased with my result. I was so close to the win, which makes it a little bit bittersweet because for a split second I thought, I can win this. Alison is such a powerful sprinter with so much race experience over here in Europe which is exactly what myself and my team here are trying to gain. I couldn’t be happier to finish in second. Bigla was the most powerful team out there. They had strength in numbers but I parked myself right behind them, knowing it would be a strong lead-out. With about 200m to go, I came around Leah, their sprinter, and almost imagined to hold it. I loved the finish in Perth, we were forced to take chances. It’s the best result we have had here in Europe so I’m just so happy.”

Stine Borgli (Norway National Team), who finished narrowly behind in third, said: “The finish was so close, but I am thrilled with my position. The last few kilometres were very hectic. My teammate tried to attack, but she couldn’t make it through. In the end, we are very happy with our positioning.”

Leah Thomas (Bigla), who finished in fourth in the stage overall, was awarded the Motorola Queen of the Sprints Jersey. She said: “Winning the sprints jersey wasn’t really in my plans today, it just turned out that way on the road. I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of points yesterday just by maintaining position and following moves. We were really aggressive with four of us in the leading pack after the Queen of the Mountains and we really wanted to push a break. We knew it was a long shot to hold it 100km to the finish because we don’t have a real sprinter here. My team did an awesome lead-out for me going into the finish and it’s a shame we didn’t manage to get on the podium but I’m delighted we have hold of the sprints and mountain jerseys.”

Cecilie Ludwig Uttrup (Bigla) was awarded the EventScotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey for the second day running after picking up another eight points on Duke’s Pass. She said: “Going over the top of Duke’s Pass first was amazing, but I have such a strong team. They did amazingly well today – they’re so strong. We tried some bold tactics and they worked pretty well! We did so well in the climb and we decided to go for the sprint as well. We did really well considering we don’t have an exceptional sprinter here. We can be so proud for how we raced as a team. We have huge smiles on our faces.”

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Stage Result
1 Alison Jackson Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank 03:24:37
2 Emma White Youth jersey Rally UHC Cycling
3 Stine Borgli Norway
4 Leah Thomas Point jersey Bigla
5 Belle De Gast Parkhotel Valkenburg
6 Ilaria Sanguineti Valcar – Cylance Cycling
7 Jessica Roberts Great Britain
8 Abby-Mae Parkinson Drops
9 Niamh Fisher-Black Torelli-Assure Madison
10 Eugenia Bujak BTC City Ljubljana
11 Ah Reum Na Alé Cipollini
12 Rebecca Durrell Brother UK-Tifosi PB Onform
13 Jennifer George Scotland
14 Elise Chabbey Bigla @ 03
15 Beate Zanner Torelli-Assure Madison @ 03 secs
16 Krista Doebel-Hickok Rally UHC Cycling
17 Sophie Wright Bigla
18 Rozanne Slik Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank
19 Rossella Ratto BTC City Ljubljana
20 Spela Kern BTC City Ljubljana
21 Eri Yonamine Alé Cipollini
22 Urska Bravec BTC City Ljubljana
23 Anna Shackley Scotland
24 Shannon Malseed Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank
25 Nikola Noskova Bigla
26 Ursa Pintar BTC City Ljubljana
27 Ingrid Lorvik Norway
28 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig Mountain jersey Bigla
29 Hanna Nilsson BTC City Ljubljana
30 Vita Heine Norway
31 Emelie Utvik Norway
32 Joscelin Lowden Drops
33 Julie Van De Velde Lotto – Soudal Ladies
34 Leah Dixon Brother UK-Tifosi PB Onform
35 Laura Massey Torelli-Assure Madison
36 Jessica Finney Brother UK-Tifosi PB Onform
37 Illi Gardner Brother UK-Tifosi PB Onform
38 Nadia Quagliotto Alé Cipollini
39 Silvia Persico Valcar – Cylance Cycling
40 Mikayla Harvey Bigla
41 Brodie Chapman Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank
42 Anna Christian Drops
43 Katherine Maine Rally UHC Cycling
44 Josie Knight Great Britain
45 Dalia Muccioli Valcar – Cylance Cycling @ 09
46 Asja Paladin Valcar – Cylance Cycling
47 Megan Barker Drops @ 17
48 Gillian Ellsay Rally UHC Cycling
49 Sophie Thackray Torelli-Assure Madison @ 07:34
50 Danielle Christmas Lotto – Soudal Ladies
51 Annelies Dom Lotto – Soudal Ladies
52 Mie Bjørndal Ottestad Norway
53 Janine van der Meer Parkhotel Valkenburg
54 Amelia Sharpe Great Britain
55 Ann-Sophie Duyck Parkhotel Valkenburg
56 Sophie Enever Team Jadan
57 Gabriella Shaw Brother UK-Tifosi PB Onform
58 Suji Jang Korea
59 Lydia Boylan Torelli-Assure Madison
60 Christina Wiejak Team Jadan
61 Hedda Skogesal Samsing Norway
62 Sara Bergen Rally UHC Cycling
63 Neah Evans Scotland
64 Grace Anderson Drops
65 Jenny Holl Scotland
66 Allison Beveridge Rally UHC Cycling
67 Katie Archibald Scotland
68 Seon Ha Yu Korea @ 09:39
69 Hyun Ji Kim Korea
70 Sylvie Swinkels Parkhotel Valkenburg
71 Sophie Lankford Scotland
72 Elizabeth Bennett Drops
73 Jessica Raimondi Alé Cipollini
74 Sharlotte Lucas Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank
75 Danique Braam Lotto – Soudal Ladies
76 Anna Docherty Great Britain
77 Sandra Weiss Torelli-Assure Madison
78 Marie Lynn Team Jadan
79 Annabel Simpson Brother UK-Tifosi PB Onform
80 Silvia Pollicini Valcar – Cylance Cycling
81 Chiara Consonni Valcar – Cylance Cycling
82 Hyun Kyung Kang Korea @ 18:41
83 Dannielle Khan Lotto – Soudal Ladies @ 18:42
84 Marjolein Van ‘t Geloof Alé Cipollini @ 18:42
85 Gemma Sargent Team Jadan @ 18:42

General Classification
1. Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
2.1 Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling)
3. Stine Borgli (Norway National Team) +4s

Jerseys
Baillie Gifford Leaders Jersey: overall race leader: 73 Alison Jackson (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank)
Motorola Solutions Queen of Sprints Jersey: 26 Leah Thomas (Bigla)
EventScotland Queen of the Mountains Jersey: mountain classification leader – 21 Cecilie Ludwig Uttrup (Bigla)
Deloitte Best Young Rider Jersey: 61 Emma White (Rally UHC Cycling)