Home rider Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) stamped her authority on stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya Feminas, winning solo in La Molina after conquering the 21.2km Coll de la Creueta.
The Catalan rider, who won La Vuelta Femenina and Amstel Gold Race earlier this spring, bided her time on the final climb, but once she put in her decisive attack, no one could match her, and she soloed to the victory and into the race lead.
Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez) fought her way into second, 1:20 down on Blasi, whilst Canada's Sidney Swierenga (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team) impressed to finish third.
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Blasi now leads the GC with only one easier stage to Barcelona between her and a win at her home tour.
"It's my hometown almost, I'm training here every day, so I pretty much knew this climb and these last kilometres," Blasi said. "So it was quite emotional and special for me, and I really wanted to fight for it.
"I knew it would not be easy because it was not that steep in the climbs, and with the wind it was quite open, and people were quite tight to my wheel. So I had to fight quite a lot mentally, because even when there were four girls left, and I was just with Gery, I was even scared because I knew if I went with her to the finish line, probably she would beat me in the sprint, so I gave it all in the climb."
The second stage in Catalunya offered a big climbing day, with the stage finishing just over the top of the HC Coll de la Creueta, with the 11.6km Coll de la Batallola preceding that for a really challenging day.
A two-rider break went early in the day, comprising Sheyla Gutiérrez (Movistar) and Victoire Joncheray (Team Abadie Magnan), but they were kept close and caught early before the top of the Batallola with 46km to go.
With 35km to go, there was a brief neutralisation due to an unsafe section of road. The riders continued riding, just slow with no attacks, and the situation was resolved quickly and the neutralisation lifted.
Soon the final climb quickly began to string the peloton out. With 25km to go, fewer than 30 riders remained in the front of the race. The base of the climb saw attack after attack, with many riders putting in little accelerations but not actually wanting to show their cards and go all-out too soon.
Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance-Soudal) was the first to get a decent gap in the final 20km, with less than 15 riders remaining in the group of favourites, where Paula Blasi was the rider to watch.
Blasi slowly started ramping up her efforts, building off the help of her teammates early on the climb, and once Van de Velde was caught, the Catalonian rider set off alone with just under 14km to go.
Expectedly, Blasi quickly built up a really solid lead as the race split apart behind her. Swierenga was in pursuit but soon already a minute down, with Géry chasing even further back as Blasi soloed over the top of the climb.
From there, there was just the run to the line in La Molina left, and Blasi's lead was untouchable as she powered to the win.
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