Women's Tour: Armitstead wins in Aldeburgh

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Lizzie Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) won the opening stage of the Aviva Women’s Tour, and moved into the race lead, after a breakaway was reeled in during the final kilometre. However, the World Cup leader was involved in a crash after the line and required medical assistance. She was still on the ground some 15 minutes later receiving oxygen after being put into a neck brace. Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) finished second with Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) in third.

With 10 kilometres remaining a group of four still had over a minute’s advantage on the chasing peloton but that was quickly eaten up by a determined peloton. The catch was timed to perfection as the four escapees were swallowed up with just 500 metres to go. It was a four-woman sprint to the line with Armitstead coming up trumps.

The celebration didn’t last long as Armitstead crashed. It appears that Armitstead lost her balance during her celebration, veering into the photographers stationed just beyond the line. Armitstead was eventually taken off on a stretcher with her teammates stepping on stage to collect her prizes as stage winner and overall leader.

The second edition of the Woman’s Tour picked up where it left off with a stage start in Bury St. Edmonds, where Marianne Vos wrapped up her overall title last year. Vos was present at the start but she would be attending to media duties rather than racing as she focusses on recovery following an early-season injury.

It was a fast and furious start as several riders tried to escape early on but it wasn’t until after the first categorised climb, where Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans) took the full points, that a break made it away. Marta Tagliaferro (Alé-Cipollini), Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) and Heather Fischer (USA) were the three to make the initial move. They were soon joined by Elinor Barker (Matrix Pro Cycling).

With only a small gap on the peloton, Katie Archibald (Pearl Izumi) and Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare) tried to follow suit. Hall joined her teammate Rivera in the leading group, while Archibald was left to struggle alone for a while before she too joined the escapees. The group went back down to five, when Fischer crashed and was taken back by the peloton who were still only a minute behind.

The advantage did eventually start to grow, only impeded by a brief stop at a level crossing. The five riders were allowed 2:45 of a gap before the peloton began reeling them in. Archibald was the first to crack of the escapees, losing touch after the final climb. The others would battle on though, only getting caught within sight of the line.

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