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Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) out-sprinted Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and won the opening stage of the eVolta-Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina.
From the bunch sprint in Manresa, Arlenis Sierra (Movistar) secured the final spot on the podium.
Vos threw up her arm toward Wollaston after the explosive finish contested on the Muralla del Carmen, seeming to motion displeasure with a line change by the New Zealander in the closing 100 metres.
Shortly after the finish, race offficials ruled that Wollaston had not impeded Vos and the contact was insufficient to overturn the results. Wollaston was deemed the stage winner and the first leader in the general classification.
After four editions of the reVolta as a one-day event, the race debuted Friday as a UCI 2.1 stage event across north-east Spain, with the third and final stage taking place Sunday in Barcelona.
The climbing commenced right away under sunny skies at the three-day stage race with the opening 45.5km, all uphill to the first of two category 3 climbs, Col de Pinos, which officially was 6.9km in length at an average 3% gradient. All early attacks in the first 20km were closed down by the peloton.
Across the Col de Pinos, Justin Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) led a small group and earned three QOM points, riding ahead of Mie Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility) and her AG Insurance teammate Mireia Benito.
Four kilometres beyond the crest of the opening climb, Mireia Trías (Massi Baix Ter) accelerated on a solo…
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