Nienke Veenhoven was the fastest in a reduced group sprint, winning a crash-marred opening stage at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina.
It was a 1-2 finish for Visma-Lease a Bike, with Marianne Vos, who was on Veenhoven's wheel in the run-in to the line, sitting up to take second place. Valentine Fortin (Cofidis) crossed the line in third place in Santa Susanna.
"The start was quite hard, and a lot of teams worked to get in the breakaway ahead of the climbs," Veenhoven said. "Luckily, we managed to come over it, and we had a really nice plan for the final. The plan was to do the sprint with Marianne today, but everything worked out well. Margaux Vigié did a really long pull in the end, and it helped us, and it happened how it happened. I'm really happy to take the win."
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Veenhoven will wear the leader's jersey into the second stage on Saturday's 130km race from Sant Vicenç de Castellet to La Molina.
The 5th Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina opened with a 91.9km race in and out of Santa Susanna. It was a mainly flat stage except for two mid-race category 3 climbs: Coll del Pollastre (2.4km at 2.8%) and Alt de Collsacreu (3.1km at 5.7%) before a 45km race to the finish line.
A strong field that included five top-tier teams lined up in Santa Susanna, and it remained largely intact until the lead-up to the first of the two ascents, when a breakaway of three formed that included Laura Molenaar (VolkerWessels), Constance Valentin (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), and Aranza Valentina Villalón (Eneicat-Be Call).
The trio reached the lower slopes of the Coll del Pollastre with 25 seconds in hand. Molenaar proved strongest of the three and distanced her breakaway companions halfway up the second ascent of Alt de Collsacreu.
The lone breakaway rider managed to hold her 11-second lead over the top and across the descent, but with FDJ United-SUEZ towing the main peloton, her chances of staying away on the long roads to the finish appeared slim.
Defying those odds, the Dutch rider pushed her lead out to 1:15 with 13km to go as Cofidis and then Visma-Lease a Bike took up the pace-setting at the front of the peloton.
A crash with 7.4km to go caused some disruption in the field, but all the riders involved were able to get back on their bikes to finish the race.
With three kilometres of racing to go, Molenaar was caught as the field prepared for a sprint, but another crash inside the last kilometre, through a left-hand turn, saw several riders go down and the field split apart.
Visma-Lease a Bike led what was left of the field into the final straightaway, setting up Veenhoven for the day's sprint victory.
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