Van der Breggen's WorldTour lead cut as Spratt wins Emakumeen Bira

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Anna van der Breggen's lead in the WorldTour classification has been trimmed down by a few points but the Olympic champion remains firmly in control of the contest. After the 12th round of the series at Emakumeen Bira, the Boels Dolmans rider still holds a commanding lead of 232 points, down slightly from her previous margin 250.

The new challenger for the Dutchwoman is Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott), who climbed two places after a stunning win at the Basque race.

Spratt had started the final stage in 10th place and seemingly out of contention at 1:37 behind her teammate and leader Annemiek van Vleuten. However, with nothing to lose, she took a punt with 50 kilometres to go and, with her team out of the chase, was able to cross the line more than two minutes ahead of most of the general classification contenders.

Spratt has enjoyed a massive season so far, with overall success at the Tour Down Under and two podium finishes during the Ardennes Classics, plus fifth at La Flèche Wallonne. The stage and overall win in Spain is her first at WorldTour level.

Van Vleuten managed to hold on to second overall, with Van der Breggen in third, giving the time trial world champion a five-place bump in the WorldTour standings. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervelo-Bigla) also rose up three positions thanks to her sixth place overall.

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) had previously been in second place after her podium finish at the recent Tour of California. She dropped down three places upon the conclusion of Emakumeen Bira, as did world champion Chantal Blaak (Boels Dolmans). Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5), who endured a difficult spring, moved to 11th with her fifth-place finish.

Unsurprisingly, Boels Dolmans continue to control the team competition, with victories in half of the 12 rounds so far. However, with other teams getting a share of the spoils in recent weeks and Mitchelton-Scott’s double podium, their advantage has been slashed. Heading into Emakumeen Bira, their lead had been a very healthy 748 points. Though it is still a pretty comfortable advantage, Mitchelton-Scott have cut their deficit to 424.

The top four in the team competition have not changed but Wiggle-High5 and Cervelo-Bigla have jumped up two spots thanks to Longo Borghini and Moolman-Pasio, with WoawDeals and Team Sunweb dropping down.

Women's WorldTour rankings as of 23/05