What a ride by Isabella Holmgren! The Orillia native and 2023 ‘cross and MTB junior world champion capped off an impressive performance at the Tour de l’Avenir, finishing second on the final and queen stage. France’s Marion Bunel won the stage and the overall classification.
Stage 3 was in Italy and went from Bobbio Pellice to Colle delle Finestre for a total of 125.9 km. The women had a brutal summit finish: the last 16 km had an average 9 percent gradient.
Holmgren was consistent throughout the race, which is viewed as a younger sibling of the Tour de France. She took three second places as well as the polka dot jersey for best climber.
Holmgren, who races for Lidl-Trek, almost didn’t race the Tour de l’Avenir. The WorldTour rider was the second alternate for the five-rider squad. Only after two other riders declined or were injured did she get selected, learning just a few weeks before the race.
🏆 Magnifique @marion_bunel !
La normande remporte sa seconde étape et le classement général !
📸 Lewis Catel #TDAV #TourdelAvenir #TourdelAvenirFemmes ✨ pic.twitter.com/Ri8NHf5lLP
— Tour de l’Avenir Femmes (@TDAVFemmes) August 24, 2024
It’s another big result for Holmgren, who also just raced at the 2024 Paris Olympics in MTB.
Canada’s Mara Roldan finished 18th overall, Laury Millette in 34th, Kiara Lylyk in 43rd, Ava Holmgren in 53rd, and Jazmine Lavergne in 58th.
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…