If the cycling community didn't know Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Cervelo Bigla) already, they definitely learned her name last Tuesday. In the women's one-day race La Course by Le Tour de France, the 22-year-old Dane ignited the race on the penultimate climb when she rode away from the favourites' group. Caught three kilometres from the top of the last climb, Uttrup Ludwig held on for a fourth place and afterwards gave an emotional interview that went viral. Cyclingnews spoke to this new star in women's cycling on the final day of the Giro Rosa and reached out to her for additional comments after La Course.
After winning the white jersey for the best U23 rider in the UCI Women's WorldTour in 2017, the 2018 season did not go to plan for Uttrup Ludwig at first as she was off the pace in the spring classics. "My spring campaign did not go great, to put it mildly," she freely admitted.
"I was frustrated because I could not figure out what the problem was. It turned out that I had an infection in a wisdom tooth, and I got it removed in early June. It is incredible how much impact such a little tooth can have on your performance. In the spring, I felt like dying when I pushed 200 watts, but now I get better every day. So I hope that the rest of my 2018 season can become very good."
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And the month-and-a-half since early June already was a very good period results-wise. After placing 17th in the sprinter-friendly OVO Energy Women's Tour, she defended her Danish time trial title, placed seventh in the flat road race, and then travelled to the Giro Rosa.
In 2017, Uttrup Ludwig had won the white jersey for the best U23 rider and finished 16th overall. This year, she was up there with the very best on a challenging course that included two mountaintop finishes, in Gerola Alta and on the Monte Zoncolan, as well as a mountain time trial. Remarkable consistency with top-ten finishes on these three stages as well as the final stage around Cividale del Friuli that also included a category 1 climb in the final netted Uttrup Ludwig a sixth place overall in a race she loves.
"I have been looking forward to the Giro," the young Dane said. "It is such a great race, even more so with the mountainous route we had this year. It was great to stay in Northern Italy compared to last year when we finished around Napoli and there were many long transfers. We stayed in the same hotel for the first five nights, that in itself is almost luxurious. You do not have to pack and unpack every day. There was a long transfer after the mountain time trial, but that was the same for everyone, and it was really just the one time."
The big breakthrough at La Course
The World Championships
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cecilie-uttrup-ludwig-pro-cyclings-rising-star
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