Baloise Ladies Tour: Nienke Veenhoven wins third stage in Maaseik

Nienke Veenhoven (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) won the third stage of the Baloise Ladies Tour 2026, prevailing in the sprint in Maaseik at the end of Saturday's afternoon leg. The Dutch fast-finisher covered the 104.8-kilometer circuit in 2 hours, 36 minutes and 1 second, crossing the line ahead of Gladys Verhulst Wild (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) and Maike Van Der Duin (Canyon//SRAM), both with the same time.Fourth place went to Clara Copponi (Lidl - Trek) and fifth to Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx - Protime), all finishing in the same bunch sprint. The race, held on the flat roads of Limburg, saw a few attack attempts in the final 45 kilometers, but the peloton remained compact all the way to the finish.Zoe Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM), tenth at the line, firmly holds the leader's jersey in the general classification with a 23-second advantage over Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Lidl - Trek) and 28 seconds over Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech). The Belgian race will conclude on Sunday with the fourth stage, a 114-kilometer circuit in Mechelen.