European road champion Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) did it again, launching a solo attack on the Alt de Barx to don the first leader’s jersey of the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana in Gandia.
Vollering made her move with 18.7km to go, distancing Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and building her advantage to 42 seconds by the finish – almost double her lead of 29 seconds last year.
Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) won the sprint for second from a nine-rider chase group while Czech champion Viktória Chladoňová (Visma-Lease a Bike) nudged in ahead of Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health) for third.
Vollering leads the GC by 56 seconds over Squiban with Chladoňová third at 58 seconds.
How it unfolded
The opening stage of the ProSeries Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana in Gandia stayed together for most of the stage, as the flat roads and high pace discouraged breakaways.
It wasn’t until the hillier second half of the 121-kilometre stage that the action began to get spicier. With 61km to go, there was a stinging attack from Anne Knijnenburg (Volkerwessels) ahead of the first mountain sprint.
Although the Tour of Chongming Island winner was quickly caught, she still claimed the maximum points ahead of Ema Comte (Cofidis) and Solène Muller (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) on the Alt de Serra Grossa.
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