It was a downhill, complicated sprint for Stage 4 at the Women's Tour
The Women’s Tour fourth stage suited the sprinters and gave Chloe Hosking another chance to find the top step after her second place in stage one.
Despite having only four riders in the race, the teamwork has been impeccable in placing Hosking in good position for the finish, but a downhill run to the line made for a complicated ending.
“The finish was fast and downhill and really swarmy,” explained Chloe Hosking. “I don’t love sprints like that, to be honest. I had Lizzie (Deignan), Trixi (Worrack) and Audrey (Cordon-Ragot) with me and Lizzie got me to the front with 3kms to go and she stayed on the front as long as she could, and then I just tried to keep myself there by jumping [onto] wheels.”
Experience helps in chaotic finishes, but that still only goes so far when 100 women are racing full-on for the line. It’s a crazy world that takes guts, skill and luck.
Hosking added: “That was a proper bunch sprint with riders going everywhere and you had to find gaps where they didn’t exist and sprint for the line when you could try and get out.”
Lorena Wiebes (DSM) sprinted to the Stage 4 win and it was a photo finish to determine second with Chiara Consonni (Valcar Travel) just edging out Hosking.
“When we came into the final corner, I got pretty far out of position and managed to salvage a third – I thought it was second, but apparently it was third,” said Hosking.
It’s been 27 days since Chloe’s last win, and she is hungry for another. “We have only four here, but my teammates are fully supporting me. They have been awesome, so I am a bit disappointed not to get them the win. But still a couple more stages to go,” she added.