Hat-trick for Zoe Bäckstedt as stage 3b TT win also delivers Baloise Ladies Tour race lead
Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) has done the double on the penultimate day of the Baloise Ladies Tour, winning stage 3b's ITT on top of the morning's 3a criterium, spoiling SD Worx-Protime's party.
Just as she did in the opening day's Prologue (3.1 km), Bäckstedt beat Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) over the 10.4-kilometre Maldegem course, this time putting 4 seconds into the veteran TT-specialist, with Belgian national champ runner-up Marthe Goossens (AG Insurance-Soudal) taking a strong third.
With race leader Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) and many others in the top 10 not so well suited to the ITT, there was a significant GC shuffle – fifth-place Marie Schreiber and tenth Femke Markus (both SD Worx-Protime) were the only riders to hold firm, losing 25 and 30 seconds apiece. Bäckstedt now sits in the top spot with a 12-second buffer over Van Dijk, Goossens poised in third overall 26 seconds down and just two clear of fourth place. In short, stage 4's Zwevegem finale should be very interesting.
[race_result id=9904 stage_id=87964 count=5 gc=0 year=2025]
[race_result id=9904 stage_id=87964 count=5 gc=5 year=2025]
