Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike) secured the prologue victory and took the first leader's jersey at the Eneco Tour Women. The Dutch rider covered the 3.1km course with the fastest time of 3:51, beating her compatriots Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Lonneke Uneken (VolkerWessels) by eight seconds in The Hague.
Nooijen started her time trial in the third of three waves, surpassing both Kool, who posted the early benchmark and had sat in the hot seat since the opening wave, and Uneken to take the day's spoils.
The Dutch road race national champion now leads the overall classification heading into stage 1 in Ede on Wednesday.
Dutch riders scorch 3.1km course
This year all six days of racing will integrate stages for pro women, formerly the Ladies Tour of Holland, and for pro men, formerly the NIBC Tour of Holland, with staggered start times and similar routes.
The action began Tuesday with a unique process for the 3.1km prologue - waves of women and men sharing the same course. The first 30 women took the start in The Hague at one-minute intervals, followed by a five-minute break, and then the first 30 men hit the course with the same spacing. This alternating-wave pattern repeated, with a total of 88 women and 88 men on the start list.
During the first wave of the women's prologue, Kool posted the fastest time of 3:59, averaging nearly 17kph across the 3.1km course. Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) and Margaux Vigié (Visma-Lease a Bike) were both three seconds slower in second and third place
However, the second wave started about thirty minutes with three riders slotting in behind Kool; Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarché Ladies) stormed into the runner's-up spot just a fraction of a second slower, Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels) a two seconds back and Letizia Borghesi (AG Insurance-Soudal) at three seconds back, bumping Markus and Vigié out of the top three.
The third wave on course would decide the final top placings of the prologue, and while Kool was the day's leader for much of this event, her time was encroached upon by Uneken, who stormed across the finish line with the second-fastest time of the day, a fraction of a second slower than Kool.
But there would be one faster rider on course to surpass them both, with Nooijen putting a stamp on the prologue with the victory and the event's first leader's jersey.
Results
Place | Full Name (Team) | Time |
|---|---|---|
1 | Lieke Nooijen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | 00:03:51 |
2 | Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) | +0:00:08 |
3 | Lonneke Uneken (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) | +0:00:08 |
4 | Sandrine Tas (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) | +0:00:09 |
5 | Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) | +0:00:10 |
6 | Anneke Dijkstra (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) | +0:00:10 |
7 | Nienke Vinke (Team SD Worx-Protime) | +0:00:11 |
8 | Letizia Borghesi (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) | +0:00:12 |
9 | Femke Markus (Team SD Worx-Protime) | +0:00:12 |
10 | Margaux Vigié (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | +0:00:12 |
11 | Rose Kloese (Carbonbike Giordana Sofré) | +0:00:12 |
12 | Quinty Ton (Liv AlUla Jayco) | +0:00:12 |
13 | Anna Vanderaerden (Fenix-Premier Tech) | +0:00:13 |
14 | Femke de Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | +0:00:13 |
15 | Pfeiffer Georgi (Team Picnic PostNL) | +0:00:13 |
16 | Robyn Clay (Team Picnic PostNL) | +0:00:14 |
17 | Jeanne Korevaar (Liv AlUla Jayco) | +0:00:14 |
18 | Julia Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime) | +0:00:14 |
19 | Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) | +0:00:15 |
20 | Mylène de Zoete (Fenix-Premier Tech) | +0:00:15 |
21 | Scarlett Souren (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) | +0:00:15 |
22 | Katharina Sadnik (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | +0:00:16 |
23 | Barbara Guarischi (Team SD Worx-Protime) | +0:00:16 |
24 | Femke Gerritse (Team SD Worx-Protime) | +0:00:16 |
25 | Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Premier Tech) | +0:00:17 |
26 | Puck Langenbarg (Fenix-Premier Tech) | +0:00:17 |
27 | Mia Griffin (Team Picnic PostNL) | +0:00:18 |
28 | Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) | +0:00:18 |
29 | Manon de Boer (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling Team) | +0:00:18 |
30 | Antje Valkeneers (Carbonbike Giordana Sofré) | +0:00:19 |
31 | Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Premier Tech) | +0:00:19 |
32 | Talia Appleton (Liv AlUla Jayco) | +0:00:20 |
33 | Eleonora Ciabocco (Team Picnic PostNL) | +0:00:21 |
34 | Linda Riedmann (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) | +0:00:21 |
35 | Viktória Chladonová (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | +0:00:21 |
36 | Anabelle Thomas (Liv AlUla Jayco) | +0:00:22 |
37 | Amber van der Hulst (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) | +0:00:22 |
38 | Nina Lavenu (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) | +0:00:22 |
39 | Florien Bolks (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) | +0:00:23 |
40 | Julia Borgström (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) | +0:00:23 |
41 | Gaia Masetti (Team Picnic PostNL) | +0:00:24 |
42 | Imogen Wolff (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | +0:00:25 |
43 | Sveva Klok (Regioteam Midden-Nederland) | +0:00:25 |
44 | Tess Moerman (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) | +0:00:25 |
45 | Marthe Goossens (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) | +0:00:25 |
46 | Elena Cecchini (Team SD Worx-Protime) | +0:00:26 |
47 | Elisabeth Ebras (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) | +0:00:26 |
48 | Sara Sonnemans (Flying Freelancers & ZZPR.nl-WV Schijndel) | +0:00:26 |
49 | Fauve Bastiaenssen (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) | +0:00:27 |
50 | Evie Smith (O'SHEA Red Chilli Bikes) | +0:00:27 |
51 | Daniela Hezinova (Team Picnic PostNL) | +0:00:27 |
52 | Eline van Rooijen (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling Team) | +0:00:28 |
53 | Dina Boels (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) | +0:00:28 |
54 | Kristy Ton (Regioteam Midden-Nederland) | +0:00:29 |
55 | Kamma Bergholt (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) | +0:00:29 |
56 | Bloeme Kalis (Regioteam Midden-Nederland) | +0:00:30 |
57 | Misia Belotti (Vini Fantini-BePink) | +0:00:30 |
58 | Mirthe Boneschansker (Regioteam Midden-Nederland) | +0:00:30 |
59 | Vittoria Grassi (Vini Fantini-BePink) | +0:00:30 |
60 | Zoë van Velzen (Flying Freelancers & ZZPR.nl-WV Schijndel) | +0:00:30 |
61 | Isere Koster (Flying Freelancers & ZZPR.nl-WV Schijndel) | +0:00:30 |
62 | Elise Timmerman (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling Team) | +0:00:31 |
63 | Quinty van Klink (Regioteam Midden-Nederland) | +0:00:31 |
64 | Marina Garau Roca (Vini Fantini-BePink) | +0:00:32 |
65 | Magdalene Lind (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) | +0:00:32 |
66 | Ida Krickau Ketelsen (O'SHEA Red Chilli Bikes) | +0:00:32 |
67 | Lani Wittevrongel (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) | +0:00:33 |
68 | Iris Mulder (Flying Freelancers & ZZPR.nl-WV Schijndel) | +0:00:33 |
69 | Kaia Schmid (O'SHEA Red Chilli Bikes) | +0:00:33 |
70 | Fariba Hashimi (Vini Fantini-BePink) | +0:00:34 |
71 | Yilla Threels (O'SHEA Red Chilli Bikes) | +0:00:34 |
72 | Andrea Casagranda (Vini Fantini-BePink) | +0:00:35 |
73 | Anna Van Wersch (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) | +0:00:35 |
74 | Lotte Van Ombergen (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling Team) | +0:00:35 |
75 | Josse Nonneman (Carbonbike Giordana Sofré) | +0:00:35 |
76 | Femke Van Goethem (Citymesh-Customm Pro Cycling Team) | +0:00:36 |
77 | Sidney Swierenga (Liv AlUla Jayco) | +0:00:36 |
78 | Anouk Van Leest (Carbonbike Giordana Sofré) | +0:00:38 |
79 | Sonia Rossetti (Vini Fantini-BePink) | +0:00:38 |
80 | Stine Marie Snortheim (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) | +0:00:38 |
81 | Fenna Hoegee (Flying Freelancers & ZZPR.nl-WV Schijndel) | +0:00:42 |
82 | Carmen van der Veen (Carbonbike Giordana Sofré) | +0:00:42 |
83 | Grace Ward (O'SHEA Red Chilli Bikes) | +0:00:42 |
84 | Rikke Steen Enstad (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) | +0:00:43 |
85 | Dina Scavone (Carbonbike Giordana Sofré) | +0:00:43 |
86 | Sophia Zwaan (Flying Freelancers & ZZPR.nl-WV Schijndel) | +0:00:45 |
87 | Lieke van Weereld (Regioteam Midden-Nederland) | +0:00:47 |
88 | Georgia Lancaster (O'SHEA Red Chilli Bikes) | +0:00:58 |