Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women concludes UAE Tour with sixth place Fidanza
Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women wrapped up the UAE Tour Women with a sixth-place finish for Martina Fidanza. The Dutch squad looks back on the four-day stage race with mixed feelings.
In the first stage, Nienke Veenhoven secured a podium spot (third), while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot held her own in a hectic crosswind stage. However, in stage three’s summit finish, the French rider was unable to stay with eventual overall winner Elisa Longo Borghini, ruling out a strong general classification result.
In the final phase of stage four, Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women moved up well to the front. First Ferrand-Prévot and later Veenhoven worked hard at the head of the peloton for Fidanza, who found herself at the front early and ultimately crossed the line in sixth place behind winner Lorena Wiebes.
"I decided to give everything I had left"
“It was a really fast finale today”, Fidanza said afterward. “We did a great job in the final kilometers, but perhaps we hit the front a little too early. At that moment, I decided to give everything I had left. The sprint played out a bit unusual due to the strong headwind. The girls did an excellent job and helped me tremendously in securing my first top-10 finish in a WorldTour race wearing the Team Visma | Lease a Bike jersey. I’m more than grateful to them for that.”