Two out of three ain’t bad. Ellen van Dijk (Boels-Dolmans) has raced into Madinat Al Shamal three times over the years at the Ladies Tour of Qatar, and she brought her tally of wins in the northern town to two with a well-timed attack 1500 metres from the finish of Thursday’s stage
In 2013, Van Dijk had to settle for second place in behind Kirsten Wild, unable to match her fellow countrywoman’s rapid finish. With Wild safely ensconced in the select leading group again here, Van Dijk had little option but to pre-empt the sprint.
A year ago, of course, Van Dijk did just that, opening her effort from almost 500 metres out to claim the stage honours. This time around, she went earlier again, jumping away from the 11-strong leading group with a little under a kilometre and a half remaining, and staying clear to win by 7 seconds. Wild, inevitably, won the sprint for second.
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“I felt strong yesterday also, and the day before, but it’s hard to take advantage of it when you’re not really a sprinter,” Van Dijk told reporters after the finish. “But I knew that today was probably my best chance because tomorrow is normally not such a tough circuit. I really wanted to play out there today and go full gas, but I also had to play it smart and wait for the right moment.”
Van Dijk was out in front for 111 of the day’s 112 kilometres. The peloton swung straight into a long crosswind section immediately after the start, and almost instantly, the strongest women in the race came to the fore, and the bunch was shredded into echelons. “The first kilometre was one big fight,” Van Dijk said.
If the opening kilometres were a battle of attrition that saw the elite leading group gain almost two minutes over gold jersey Katrin Garfoot (Orica-AIS), the warfare was increasingly tactical as the day wore on.
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