Johansson wins stage 1 at Euskal Emakumeen Bira

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Emma Johansson (Wiggle High5) took her first win of the season at stage 1 of Euskal Emakumeen Bira. She took the win ahead of late-race breakaway companion Carmen Small (Cervelo-Bigla), while her Wiggle High5 teammate Giorgia Bronzini won the sprint for third place.

"It was nice, it was really nice," Johansson said in a team press release. "We've been looking for that big win for a long time now, and so it was nice to actually get it also to have Gio backing up with a win in the sprint from the group behind. Of course we are still out for the GC, and maybe it would have been a better situation to have.

"I've been feeling great during the spring, and the way things have been coming together it was just a matter of time before I'd get to put my hands in the air."

Small took over the race lead from her teammate and prologue winner Lotta Lepisto. She now leads the overall classification by 12 seconds ahead of Lepisto, who finished fourth on the day, and 14 seconds ahead of Johansson.

The women raced a challenging 76.6km from from Eskoriatza and back to Eskoriatza. Although breakaways formed through out the stage, it was Small who made the winning move stick with rival Johansson over the final climb with 16km to go. 

"I attacked over the second climb," Small said in a team press release. "That was our tactic for the day, to go there and see if I hold it to the finish. If we stayed away I would take the jersey and if we were caught, Lotta would then hold the jersey. The team was super strong today and it was probably the best team performance of the season. A dangerous move went on the first climb and Joelle [Numainville] was incredible in shutting it down. She was on the front up the climbs, it was impressive to see. Stephanie [Pohl] was amazing, Clara [Koppenburg] was great and Ashleigh [Moolman-Pasio] was amazing as always."

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