Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime), the 2024 Ford RideLondon Classique champion. Wiebes won the third and final stage of the race in London today to complete a hat-trick of wins at this year's event, plus the overall General Classification victory.

 

"I am happy and also happy that Lotte finished again on the podium and also in the General Classification, so that makes it even better. Always hard to try do the same again, hat-tricks are always hard to do, really happy to be unbeaten in RideLondon and I will enjoy this. Hope team comes back next year, as I love this race. I want to thank my team-mates for all the work they did. I’m really happy with my team-mates."

 

On how Stage Three panned out, including the crash and how it affected the team:

 

"Only Barbara [Guarischi] was involved in the crash, I was lucky as they touched my back wheel and I was able to stay upright so that didn't affect us too much because we anyway would save Barbara for the last part of the race and that was much chaos into the last corners. But I found Lotte [Kopecky] at one point and then she went and I went quick afterwards."

 

How did you find this stage compared to the previous two?

 

"It's nice, the city centre is always something different, a lot of people next to the roads cheering. It was quite bumpy, it is always quite hard, a race like this."

 

How much does the General Classification victory mean to you?

 

"I am really happy to take this GC win as I don't have that many opportunities to go for GCs so it makes it a bit more special."

 

 

Lizzie Deignan (Lidl - Trek) reacts to the conclusion of the 2024 Ford RideLondon Classique.

 

“Really happy. I mean, you always want more if you don’t win the race, but I think we had a pretty clear winner in this race. Lorena Wiebes is the fastest sprinter in the world, and they [Team SD Worx - Protime] were dominant and deserved to win.”

 

On how Stage Three panned out:

 

“It suited Clara [Copponi], she’s a brilliant sprinter. I only wish we got our lead-out in the final sprint better, but as a team [with these riders] we hadn’t raced together much recently.

 

“Putting a lead-out for a sprinter requires practise, and as a starting point, I’m really impressed with where we are.”

 

The threat of crashes on Stage Three:

 

“I was riding at the front of the race the whole time because of that reason. The roads are slippy. It’s a city centre. It’s unavoidable.”

 

On being overall Best British Rider at this year's event:

 

“It’s a complete bonus. I aimed to be a great team-mate to Clara, and it’s a by-product of that, nothing else.

 

“I’m proud. We have a strong collection of British women at the moment so to still be able to pull that off as a bonus is cool.”

 

Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ) on defending her Best Young Rider jersey from 2023:
 
“I’m happy about this! It is the time I can go for youngest rider. I won this jersey last year, so this race is quite lucky for me!”
 
On how Stage Three panned out:
 
“It was totally different because it was all flat, so a lot faster and the position in the bunch was really important. We managed quite well, and the final sprint we tried for Chiara [Consonni], so it was a bit different. Personally I prefer the previous Stages!”
 
How teamwork played a part:
 
“The positioning was really important. Unfortunately we lost one yesterday in the crash, so we were only four. So we lost an important part for us. I was sorry about that.”

 

Rebecca Koerner (Uno-X Mobility) on winning the Queen of the Mountains Competition:
 
“I’m really happy right now! It was a hectic race today. I hoped to do a bit more, but in the end I’m really happy to come away with this prize.”
 
On claiming her first international jersey:
 
“It’s really nice. I’m really happy about it.”

 

Ahead of the third stage of today’s Ford RideLondon Classique, riders speak about the challenges and plans for the route.

Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime)

“The legs are still quite good. Today it’s again a tough stage in the city centre, it’s probably high speed and with all the corners it will not be an easy stage.

“It is a completely different finish to the last two stages, and I think it will suit us as a team with a strong lead-out and hopefully to get the third win of the week for the team.”

On race tactics and which rider from the team will be going for the win:

“The most important thing is we win today, and we will see who crosses the Finish Line first!”

 

 

Rebecca Koerner (Uno-X Mobility) 

 

On racing for the first time on The Mall:

 

“It’s a nice stage to be racing today, so I am excited! It’s going to be a really good experience”

 

Objective for today:

 

“We are going to go for some fast racing and I’m going to be a key lead rider for one of our fast riders.”

 

 

Alice Towers (Canyon//SRAM Racing)

 

On her team’s performance at the 2024 Ford RideLondon Classique:

 

“We’ve tried to race really aggressively over the weekend. We certainly didn’t want to leave it to the sprinters every day, we gave it a good go, it hasn’t worked out so far but we’ve picked up some good results along the way and are happy with the way we raced.”

 

Previewing Stage Three and how it compares to the previous two stages:

 

“I think today is going to be just as much of a fight for the bonus seconds on the laps before the Finish Line, so I think the racing is going to be on from the start, really, just for the bonus seconds which makes it a bit of a different race.

 

“We still want to play the general classification but also go for a result on the Finish Line and we’ve got a plan for both of those.”

 

On competition to be Best British Rider, up against the likes of Lizzie Deignan:

 

“I didn’t realise that, actually! That would be nice, of course but I think the main objective is to keep our place on the general classification and anything after that is a bonus.”