2024 Tour of Chongming Island S3 | Team Ceratizit Also Claims Final Stage, Lach Wins the Stage and GC

Marta Lach has completed a nearly perfect Tour of Chongming Lake for Team Ceratizit. She secured back-to-back victories, crossing the line first in the third and final stage, ultimately also winning both the yellow and green jerseys. 

The tour on Chongming Island, located at the estuary of the Yangtze River, turned out to be a massive success for Team Ceratizit, who won all three stages, the general classification, and the sprint classification. Lach, the celebrated winner of both jerseys, said this was almost the perfect stage race for the team. 

“Beforehand, we did not imagine to be so dominant here,” the Polish sprinter said after the final podium ceremony. “The atmosphere in the team is so good, and we really enjoyed our week here on Chongming Island. With all this success, we couldn’t wish for more.” 

Ahead of the final stage, it was clear that the three intermediate sprints were going to play a crucial role in the tactics of the different teams. Given the fact that bonus seconds were available for the top three riders, and Team Ceratizit held a solid advantage in the fight for the yellow jersey, other teams had to take time from the German team to still have a chance of winning overall. 

In addition, there was still a battle for the QOM (Queen of the Mountains) classification. Anne Knijnenburg and Karolina Neumanova were both in contention, having each scored one point in the previous two race days. The final point, up for grabs after 6.9 kilometers of racing, would decide whether a polka-dot jersey appeared on the final podium at Chongming Lake or went home with no prize. 

Neumanova mentioned ahead of the stage that UAE Team ADQ, which had yet to secure a major result in the race, was targeting both the jersey and the stage win. However, after 111.9 kilometers of racing in the final stage, they came up completely empty-handed. Knijnenburg rode a phenomenal race, winning the QOM sprint and staying as the final escapee until she was caught with less than five kilometers to go. 

UAE Team ADQ saw their rider Neumanova not only lose the mountain classification but she was also pushed off the final podium. 

The Dutch team meanwhile raced an excellent final stage, with Knijnenburg on the move, Sofie van Rooijen finishing third on the day, and Scarlett Souren finishing second, moving up to third in the GC and even winning the U23 classification. 

However, they couldn’t quite overcome Team Ceratizit’s dominance in this year’s Tour of Chongming Island. After catching Knijnenburg, the lead-out didn’t go as planned, Lach mentioned after the stage, noting that race leader Mylène de Zoete got completely boxed in. Nonetheless, just like in the previous stages, the team had multiple cards to play, and Lach herself made no mistake. 

The winner of stage 1 and the runner-up of stage 2, De Zoete, had to accept that the jersey changed hands on the final day of racing: to her teammate Lach. 

This left the Polish winner of the Tour of Chongming Island with slightly mixed feelings. “I would have been just as happy, maybe even happier, if Mylène had won the overall,” she said. “She was second last year, and the goal was to pilot her into the final hundred meters. When I didn’t see her in the final sprint, I decided to go for it myself.” 

And with success. “Mylène said she’s very happy for me, but somehow it feels wrong. Her response really shows the kind of team we are and how close we’ve become. I’ve been so happy racing for Team Ceratizit over the last four years,” said a clearly emotional Lach, who stepped onto the podium one last time, as Team Ceratizit also won the team classification in the Tour of Chongming Island. 

The majority of the riders are now traveling to the final Women’s WorldTour race of the year, in Guangxi. This one-day race will take place on October 20th in Nanning.