For a third time in a row, Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam won the Postnord UCI WWT Vargarda Westsweden team time trial on Saturday. This year, the heavy rain and changing winds made the course on slightly rolling terrain even harder. The Dutch squad, including UCI Women's WorldTour overall leader Anna van der Breggen, finished very strongly in the last third of the 42.5km course: they turned a six second deficit into a victory by 16 seconds over reigning UCI World Champions Team Sunweb in the final ten kilometres of the race. Another 47 seconds adrift, Cervélo-Bigla Pro Cycling Team finished third.
With the victory, Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam increased its lead in the UCIWWT Team standings and now sits on top of the rankings with 3445.98 points. Mitchelton Scott is still in second place with 3154 points ahead of Canyon // SRAM Racing (1828). Van der Breggen has 1.160,33 points now and leads Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton Scott) by 83.33 points in the overall General Classification. Sofia Bertizzolo (Astana Women's Team) retains her lead in the Youth Ranking.
Thursday, August 16th, Ladies Tour of Norway TTT
Friday August 17 – Sunday August 19, Ladies Tour of Norway
At the age of 28, German Tanja Erath is competing in her first season as a professional road cyclist after taking part in the Zwift Academy last year. On Saturday, the Canyon // SRAM Racing member fulfilled her personal dream to race a WorldTour team time trial with her team, contributing strongly to the former UCI World Champions’ ride to fourth place in Vargarda.
A former triathlete and holder of an advanced medical degree, Erath also claimed silver in the Scratch Race last month at her first ever German Track Cycling Championships.
Follow Tanja Erath on Twitter