Ladies Thalita de Jong wins the mountain and points jerseys in the Bretagne Ladies Tour

"The points jersey wasn’t initially the plan, but at the finish, there were still some points to grab and I finished second in this third and final stage, so apparently that was enough," laughs Thalita de Jong (30). She looks back on her Bretagne Ladies Tour with great satisfaction. With the mountain jersey, the points jersey, a second place in that final stage, and a fifth place in the overall classification, she takes home a nice prize pot.

"Today's stage actually started quite boring. Everything was very calm, one rider attacked, but that was it. I managed to collect all the points on the first climb, which put me 18 points ahead of the second. Something really crazy would have had to happen on the way to lose the mountain jersey. On the second climb, I finished as second, so then I was completely certain. From that moment, I could fully focus on the rest of the race. Perfect timing, because FDJ-SUEZ started to set the pace with six riders at that moment. There were continuous attacks. Luckily, I had Mieke Docx by my side to counter every attack. Only at the end, no one had an answer when Grace Brown attacked. I eventually went to the front myself—I wanted to play it safe because there was still a dangerous corner in the last kilometer—and finished second."

De Jong is particularly proud of her achievements. "And of the team’s. The girls did everything to support me. The fact that this teamwork results in two jerseys makes it even more beautiful. I am really very happy."

Picture: Bretagne Ladies Tour