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Émilie Fortin held off a charging peloton to secure solo win for Cynisca Cycling at Clásica de Almería. The Canadian crossed the finish line 16 seconds ahead of a reduced-group sprint where her compatriot Alison Jackson (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) won the sprint for second place, and Floortje Mackaij (Movistar) took third in Vera.
The Clásica de Almería offered the women’s field a 137km race from Puebla de Vicar to Vera. The route had three intermediate sprints, two main ascents over Alto Questa Blanca at the 65.5km mark, and a second smaller climb at the 98.5km mark. The last 40km were mainly downhill, with one final climb that led into a small circuit in Vera that boasted a short uphill to the finish line.
It was Cynisca Cycling’s second race of the early season, having launched the team at the Vuelta CV Feminas at the previous weekend. Their main objective was to join a breakaway and be active in the race. However, strong headwinds played a factor in the race, making an early break difficult.
The team reacted swiftly when Fortin had an untimely puncture, bringing her back into contention inside the last 25km.
Fortin and Cynisca Cycling teammate Pauline Allin then bridged across to solo breakaway rider Lucia Ruiz (Eneicat-CM Team-Seguros Deportivos), and the trio extended their lead to two minutes.
EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and Movistar launched a chase and managed to swallow both Allin and Ruiz.
Fortin hung on to take a solo victory by a margin of 19 seconds over the peloton in what was her first big win for the newly-launched outfit Cynisca Cycling.
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