The opening time trial of the Simac Ladies Tour was a family affair for winner Zoe Beckstedt (Canyon-Slam), who carried her father and sport director Magnus in the team car.

The 20-year-old held the overall lead after the second stage to Assen, but all of her Canyon-Slam teammates were forced to abandon for various reasons, leaving Beckstedt alone in the six-day race to defend the yellow jersey.

Chloe Dygert had an unfortunate accident before the opening time trial. She finished 10th in the ITT but did not compete in the second stage. Soraya Paladin and Myke van der Duyn also did not compete in the second stage due to illness.

“Soraya and Myke became symptomatic after dinner last night, but with Zoe wearing the jersey, we wanted to continue racing and help her defend her jersey. Unfortunately, this morning, together with the team medical staff, we decided not to start,” Magnus Beckstedt told Cycling News.

As a result, Alex Morris will be the only one to support Zoe Beckstedt on the 154.8 km (mostly flat) second stage from Covorden to Assen.

“Alex's retirement is not due to illness at this time. She almost crashed and was unable to return to the group.

Zoe Beckstedt finished 19th in the stage 2 group sprint and took the overall lead, seven seconds ahead of Rike Neuen (Wisma-Ries-a-Bike) and eight seconds ahead of Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek).

“It was brutal. I was averaging 40.7 [km/h]. I was on full throttle the whole way except for a 5 km stretch in the middle of the race. From then until the finish, I just tried to bounce off people and make up as much ground as I could. I haven't done a lot of sprints, and in Antwerp-Port Epic the group was a lot smaller than it was today. I'm glad I made it through this stage,” she said in a message the team shared on Twitter after the second stage.

As a cyclocross rider, she is the U23 world champion in the off-road discipline and European champion.

“For the rest of the stage, as in every other race, we as a team will continue to support Zoey to the best of our ability. Tactically, she has to be very smart to defend this jersey in the best possible way. She will fight with everything she has,” Magnus Beckstedt said, confirming his trust in his second daughter in an unusual situation.