Dutch rider Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the first edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya women’s stage race, which ended Sunday in Barcelona with the victory of New Zealander Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) in the final sprint.
Vos, triple world champion, started as the favorite and, although she missed the stage win against Wollaston in the sprints of the first and the last day, she left the race sentenced in the second stage with a solo victory in the ascent to the ski resort of La Molina.
The Dutchwoman won the overall with a margin of 1:06 over her compatriot and teammate Riejanne Markus, and 1:14 over Norwegian Katrine Aalerud (UnoX), while Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) finished ninth (2:09 behind) as the best-placed Spaniard.
After the hardness of yesterday’s Pyrenean stage, the Volta concluded this Sunday with a day of medium mountains and 86.6 kilometers, starting in Molins de Rei and finishing in Barcelona, marked by the ascent to the Alt dels Casots (2nd) and Alt de Begues (3rd).
German Leonie Laubig (Primeau Vélo-Groupe Abadie) led the start of the day with a solo breakaway, which reached a margin of more than 50 seconds over the peloton, but was neutralized on the ascent to the Alt dels Casots, 51 kilometers from the finish, where Belgian Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) secured the mountains jersey.
Victory for Ally Wollaston
None of the successive attacks on the terrain between passes escaped the control of Visma-Lease a Bike, which was surprised by the change of pace of German Aileen Schweikart (Laboral Kutxa) on the climb to Alt de Begues.
In the most technical section of the descent, the Dutch rider Loes Adegeest (FDJ-Suez) launched a counterattack 25 kilometers from the finish, escaped and rode solo on the flat until she was caught by the peloton two kilometers from the finish, condemned to a sprint.
Cuban Arlenis Sierra (Movistar) faced the final straight in first position, but finished fourth after being overtaken in the last effort by Wollaston, Vos and Italian Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez).
Fuente: Agencia EFE y www.marca.com