Tour of Scandinavia stage 5: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig wins stage as Annemiek van Vleuten takes overall

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ - SUEZ) put in an incredible performance to win stage 5 of the Tour of Scandinavia.

The Danish rider attacked at the foot of the final climb, dropping the entire peloton in wet conditions, and holding on to take a classy victory.

Uttrup Ludwig came into the stage 17 seconds down on overnight leader Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and promised to go down fighting after leading the race for several days.

In awful wet conditions Uttrup Ludwig attacked at the base of the final climb and it was van Vleuten who was forced into a frantic chase with a ten second bonus awarded to the winner at the line. The Dutch rider held her main rival at around 50m but looked around desperately for support as up ahead Uttrup Ludwig powered to the win.

Van Vleuten was able to rely on the sprinters with Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) taking second on the stage, with Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) finishing third.

Van Vleuten crossed the line in 15th but retained her lead by just two seconds, taking the 104th win of her career. While there was no title defence for Uttrup Ludwig the Dane could take pride from her week of racing with the 28-year-old winning two stages, the points jersey and finishing second overall.

"That was so, so good. And in my home country, that was so good," the Danish winner said at the finish.

"The last few laps were crazy in the rain, it was like flooding, with full on rain but I was a woman on a mission and I wanted to give it my all. I tried a few times and we tried to split it in the wind but that didn't happen. With the break the speed was so high but we stalled at the climb so we tried. I'm proud of the team and they really believed in me. This was for them. The GC was on my mind, I thought it was in reach, and it almost was. It's a pity but I'm so proud of how we raced as a team. Three wins as a team, we can happy. This is fun racing."

Crash takes down breakaway

Anya Louw (AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step), Elena Hartmann (Israel Premier Tech Roland), and Mia Sofie Rützou (Denmark) formed the main break of the day and built up a lead of almost five minutes before Rützou was reeled in by the peloton.

The remaining pair of Louw and Hartmann ploughed on as they maintained a lead of over four minutes with 52km to go, and they retained much of that gap as they hit the first of three 7.5km finishing circuits.

A crash within the peloton with 40km to go highlighted the tension within the main field, and with Hartman the virtual GC leader on the road the stage was well-balanced.

SD Worx and Lidl Trek reduced the gap to 3:35 with 33km to go but with 21km remaining disaster struck the break when Hartman crashed on a right hand corner and took down Louw in the process.

The Israel rider was caught by the peloton as she sat on the ground with medical staff around her but Louw was able to re-start her effort. The Australian bravely fought on as Uttrup Ludwig put in her first attack on the penultimate lap.

As the heavy rain began to fall Louw's gap was down to just 35 seconds with 10km to go and she was finally caught a few moments later. Grace Brown attacked almost right away but with 1.8km it looked as though the sprinters would decide the stage.

Uttrup Ludwig, however, was true to her word and attacked with 900m to go. She quickly opened a gap and for a few seconds it looked as though she would take the overall win along with the stage victory.

Van Vleuten had other ideas, and although she was unable to catch the Dane, she just did enough to limit her losses and take the title.

Amber Kraak (Jumbo Visma) secured third overall.

If you head to our Tour of Scandinavia landing page, you will find everything you need to know about the race, including our race preview, the route, and start list. Check it out for all that and more.