Knijnenburg finished third in the last WorldTour race of the season after opening the sprint for the stage win a good 300 metres before the finish line far too early. The Australian Talbot benefited from the slipstream for a long time and, like Riejanne Markus (Lidl - Trek), overtook Knijnenburg in the final metres. It was Talbot's first win of the season, her first at WWT level and the fourth in her professional career.

Knijnenburg must not have been too sad about this, even though she had to wait an extremely long time for confirmation. Many, many minutes passed before the overall winner was officially confirmed. Then it was clear: the four bonus seconds for third place would make the difference. Because there was a crash in the peloton in the last three kilometres, in which the previous leader van Rooijen was also involved, the gap between the breakaway and the peloton was stopped at that moment and put at 16 seconds - exactly the gap between Knijnenburg and her compatriot before the stage. The bonuses then proved to be the deciding factor.

Knijnenburg's victory in the Tour, which she also garnished with the mountain jersey, was also her first at WorldTour level and only the second of her career. Over the course of the season - as well as during the stage race - she had repeatedly attracted attention with her offensive riding style. This should now secure her the greatest success of her career to date.

Tour of Chongming Island- Results 3rd stage

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How the 3rd stage of the Tour of Chongming Island 2025 went

For a long time, nothing happened on the final stage of the tour. The early mountain classification, again held on a bridge, no longer had any relevance after Knijnenburg had already scooped up the points on the first two days. Meis Poland (VolkerWessels Cycing Team) took the point without too much resistance, while the peloton continued to ride in unison towards the finish. Only the bonus sprints got the race going. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl - Trek) secured the first two, while the third went to Mia Griffin (Roland Le Dévoluy). Between number two and three, Knijnenburg and Kaja Rysz (Roland Le Dévoluy) managed to gain a few seconds.

However, it only got really nervous around the 30-kilometre mark. A group of around 15 women managed to break away from the peloton, which was briefly split by counter attacks. Ten kilometres later, the spook was over for the time being, but it remained restless despite the flat profile. There were repeated attacks, with small groups or soloists travelling ahead of the peloton. Laura Lizette Sander (Team Coop - Repsol) then led the race on the final twelve-kilometre lap.

When Sander was dropped with just under seven kilometres to go, her team-mate April Tacey took over, who in turn was replaced by Knijnenburg, who once again attacked. When the woman in the mountain jersey left, nine more women followed her at a small wave around four kilometres before the finish, creating a gap in the peloton. With UAE ADQ and Liv Jayco AlUla, two sprinter teams were represented twice at the front. The lack of pace work from these two teams ultimately ensured that the group was able to get through and ride to victory.

Knijnenburg was the first to start her sprint 300 metres before the finish. However, she was caught by the incredulous Talbot and Markus. Meanwhile, unobserved by the TV cameras, there was an additional crash in the peloton in the last three kilometres, in which van Rooijen was also involved. More than ten women were on the ground for even longer. Although the 3-kilometre rule applied, the gap between the peloton and the front was large enough for Knijnenburg to win the race thanks to the time gap and her bonuses.