So, she won stage four then crashed in the celebration last year. This year, Sarah Roy won the sprint on stage three, and stayed upright afterwards. The Australian has stepped things up in the last 18 months, converting talent into more results.

Stage 3 Review

Perfect weather conditions for watching a bike race – sunshine and nice temperatures. The field stayed pretty much together, driven by Sunweb, until the first intermediate sprint so that overall leader Coryn Rivera could pick up more time bonuses.

Anne-Sophie Duyck (Cervélo-Bigla) and Norwegian champion Vita Heine (Hitec Products) then took off, spending around 60 kilometers in the day’s breakaway with the Belgian TT specialist ultimately taking the combativity prize.

Heine led the pair through the second intermediate sprint, with Rivera third for more bonus gains. By now, Heine and Duyck were two minutes up, a lead they eventually stretched out to four minutes.

Heine and Duyck led over the second-category Edge Hill climb, but things were kicking off behind with mountains leader Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) attacking – this provoked a frenetic finale to the stage.

The leading pair were caught just before the second QOM climb, first by Rosella Ratto (Cylance) then a larger group, which led to a series of splits and regroupings as an elite mini-peloton got clear to contest the sprint finish. Longo Borghini took a firmer hold of the mountains jersey by getting to the top of Burton Dassett, along with Niewiadoma and Amialusik (Canyon-SRAM) and Stultiens from Waowdeals.

Photos: Check out our fantastic #gallery of @Vélofocus pictures from today's @thewomenstour stage 3! Another technical stage means another aggressive display from @ElisaLongoB! https://t.co/LipxiQ4eXd #UCIWWT #OVOWT #OVVOWWT2018 pic.twitter.com/quSwE5grwk

— Wiggle High5 (@WiggleHigh5) June 15, 2018

Canyon-SRAM were notably active in the final kilometres but couldn’t get anything to stick. It seemed that Michelton-Scott’s homework paid off in the end. Roy said afterwards: “In the final kilometre I was really well looked after. Any important parts of the race we try to research beforehand and talk about a lot, and we go and look at on Google Street View. So we were really well researched today and I was really well prepared. I think that helped.

“I wasn’t confident coming over the climbs today, I didn’t have a great day yesterday so I really tried to turn it around today.  You saw it, I was a little bit overwhelmed at the finish there and had a few tears.

“My team have given me the opportunity today and I thought I’m going to take this one and give it all I’ve got.  You’ve seen them work their butts off out there covering all their attacks and I was just super thankful for their work out there today, so to pull it off is the nicest feeling.”

She also said, crucially, that the dropped stage 1 winner Jolien D’Hoore radioed through towards the end of the stage, telling Roy to be sure to take the final corner in third wheel. The Belgian had finished 11^thon this stage, on this course and finish, last year, so her advice was born from experience and disappointment.

📸 The @OVOEnergy Women's Tour Green Jersey leader after Stage 3⃣ is @CorynRivera (@TeamSunweb).
#OVOWT #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/kHAowOTYCQ

— The Women's Tour (@thewomenstour) June 15, 2018

Rivera extended her overall lead just a little: she shouldbe able to survive stage 4, but the sprinting for time bonuses and the stage wins may mean stage 5 is a much tougher ask.

 

OVO Energy Women’s Tour Stage 3, Atherstone – Royal Leamington Spa, 151 kilometers

 

1 Sarah Roy (Aus) Michelton-Scott                    3hrs 55’ 09”

2 Marianne Vos (Ned) Waowdeals

3 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Cylance

4 Coryn Rivera (USA) Sunweb

5 Roxanne Fournier (Fra) FDJ

6 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ

7 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Valcar-PBM   + 2”

8 Eva Buurman (Ned) Trek-Drops

9 Amy Pieters (Ned) Boels-Dolmans

10 Dani Rowe (GB) Waowdeals                            same time

 

Overall after stage 3

 

1 Coryn Rivera (USA) Sunweb                                  11hrs 17’ 27”

2 Marianne Vos (Ned) Waowdeals                         + 16”

3 Dani Rowe (GB) Waowdeals                                 + 20”

4 Amy Pieters (Ned) Boels-Dolmans                       + 23”

5 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels-Dolmans              + 23”

6 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle-High5              + 27”

7 Eva Buurman (Ned) Trek-Drops                            + 29”

8 Eugenia Bujak (Slo) BTC City Ljubljana                 + 29”

9 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Valcar-PBM         + 29”

10 Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Canyon-SRAM    + 29”