Annemiek van Vleuten’s stage 2 victory at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta was no surprise. The rider flew through the finish line solo, after launching a successful attack on the last climb.
The Women’s WorldTour leader was initially chased by Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ), Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx), and Liane Lippert (Team DSM). But they were no match for Van Vleuten. Elisa Longo managed to finish 2:16 behind Van Vleuten.
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While Mavi García did have a promising start, unfortunately, she only managed to close in on 11th position. She finished in the group which was led by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ SUEZ Futuroscope). Her closing time is 2:50 behind the stage champion.
This win makes Van Vleuten the GC leader. She is being chased by Longo Borghini in second place at 1:55 and Demi Vollering in third place at 2:24 minutes. Although Annemiek van Vleuten has proven to be an irreplaceable talent for the team Movistar, she will be saying goodbye to the racing world in 2023. She thinks it is time for her to look for new ventures and it is best to retire while she is at the top of her game.
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How It Happened
The second stage of the five-day long event was the toughest with 5 climbs and a 105.9km long track. The first attack came from Maaike Coljé (Massi-Tactic) and Anna Kiesenhofer (Soltec Team) but it was Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) who made the breakaway.
The breakaway was joined by Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT) for a short period of time, but she was quickly dropped. Lucinda Brand and Sarah Roy (Canyon-SRAM) led the peloton with a gap of 3:45 minutes on the climb of Campo Layal, that is when Movistar decided to get in action.
Van Vleuten launched an attack as soon as she caught on with the duo. After she gained a lead, she continued to increase the gap. On the final climb of the day, as Vleuten led the race, Longo Borghini managed to open up a gap but it was of no use. Longo Borghini will be seen in the green jersey in the upcoming stages.
On the other hand, Van Vleuten took the lead in the GC as well as the point classification.
Results
| POS | RIDER | TIME | TEAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Annemiek van Vleuten | 02:56:30 | Movistar Team |
| 02 | Elisa Longo Borghini | + 02:16 | Trek-Segafredo |
| 03 | Liane Lippert | + 02:16 | Team DSM |
| 04 | Demi Vollering | + 02:16 | Team SD Worx |
| 05 | Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig | + 02:16 | FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope |
Also Read: Wout Van Aert Gears Up For The Upcoming UCI Road World Championships
Featured Image Via YouTube/ FloBikes
