Ludwig wins stage 3 of women鈥檚 Tour de France, Vos stays in yellow

FDJ Suez Futuroscope's Danish rider Cecilie Ludwig (front) sprints to win followed by Team Jumbo Visma's Dutch rider Marianne Vos. (AFP)
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  • After two relatively flat rides, the peloton had to face its first climbs as they took on the 133.6km course from Reims to Epernay

EPERNAY, France: Dane Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig outmuscled Marianne Vos to win stage three of the women鈥檚 Tour de France on Tuesday but the veteran Dutch rider held on to the yellow jersey.

The day after a nightmare stage two for her FDJ-Suez team, marked by the abandonment of title contender Marta Cavalli, Ludwig, who also battled back from a fall on Monday, produced a vintage performance in the Champagne region.

After two relatively flat rides, the peloton had to face its first climbs as they took on the 133.6km course from Reims to Epernay.

Eleven riders slugged it out over the final stages, with Vos working hard to rejoin the leaders after being dropped.

The 35-year-old, who took over the yellow jersey with victory in stage two on Monday, kicked hard but it was the younger legs of 26-year-old Ludwig who powered through the line first.

鈥淚 have to say that it feels like such a good comeback after yesterday,鈥� said a tearful Ludwig who was wearing the jersey of Danish champion.

鈥淚 just love how the team kept the fighting spirit. We knew that today was a super good day and if I had the legs, I could try and go for the win.

鈥淭o actually do it and become a Tour de France stage winner, and in this jersey, it doesn鈥檛 get better.鈥�

Team Jumbo-Visma鈥檚 Vos finished two seconds behind, closely shadowed by South African Ashleigh Moolman, Italians Silvia Persico and Elisa Lono Borghini and Pole Katarzyna Niewiadoma.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 come into the last corner in the best position but I just kept fighting,鈥� added Ludwig, whose stage win came just two days after her compatriot Jonas Vingegaard won the men鈥檚 Tour de France title.

鈥淲hat a year for Denmark.鈥�

Vos leads the general classification with a 16-second lead over Valcar-Travel and Service鈥檚 Persico and Niewiadoma of Canyon-SRAM.

鈥淚 think Cecilie definitely had the best legs in the end, so I can鈥檛 be disappointed but I just gave it all to be up there in the mix,鈥� said three-time world road champion Vos.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I can be disappointed. We tried our best today. We knew it was going to be hard over the climbs.鈥�

Annemiek van Vleuten, the pre-race favorite, struggled with illness and was dropped on the Mont Bernon climb four kilometers from the finish.

The Olympic time-trial champion managed to rejoin the leading group but again fell away in the closing stages and finished 20 seconds after Ludwig.

Van Vleuten, bidding to complete a Giro d鈥橧talia-Tour de France double, said she had barely been able to eat in the last two days.

鈥淭oday was actually awesome compared to yesterday, because yesterday I was actually really, really sick,鈥� she told Eurosport.

鈥淚t started a couple of hours after the first stage, I had a stomach infection.

鈥淭he last thing I was thinking about was racing.鈥�

The Dutchwoman sits ninth in the standings, 74 seconds off the pace set by Vos.

Wednesday鈥檚 fourth stage of the eight-stage race, which ends on Sunday, is a 126km ride over steep ramps and unpaved roads from Troyes to Bar-sur-Aube.