Festival Elsy Jacobs: Martina Fidanza fastest among sprinters to claim victory in Luxembourg

Martina Fidanza secured her first victory in the colours of Visma-Lease a Bike, winning out of a bunch sprint at Festival Elsy Jacobs à Luxembourg on Sunday. 

The Italian sprinter was fastest to the line ahead of runner-up Valentine Fortin (Cofidis) and third-placed Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) in Cessange.

“I feel good, because yesterday it was not really my day, I was feeling not so good,” Fidanza said after the podium ceremony. “Today I had completely different feelings, and also we worked really good with the team, and I think we deserved this victory.”

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It was the second of two one-day races this weekend at the Festival Elsy Jacobs à Luxembourg, which offered the peloton a 121.6km race in Cessange. 

The peloton tackled eight laps of a 15.2km circuit in Cessange, including a short but steep 200m climb through the finish line at Rue Tubis.

A breakaway formed that included the previous day's winner Marta Lach and teammate Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-Protime), Lonneke Uneken and teammate Margot Vanpachtenbeke (VolkerWessels), Sarah Van Dam (Ceratizit Pro Cycling), Noä Jansen (Liv AlUla Jayco), Ilse Pluimers (AG Insurance-Soudal), Eva van Agt and teammates Rosita Reijnhout and Linda Riedmann (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Valentine Fortin (Cofidis) with a small gap at 35km to go.

Despite their efforts, the reduced field of 25 riders was back together on the last loop for teams to set up for the final sprint, with Visma-Lease a Bike and Fidanza claiming the victory.

“Today we wanted to make the race hard and also to give an opportunity to all my teammates to feel free to do their own races,” Fidanza said. 

“When it was one or two laps to go, we decided to go for the sprint because I was still there and because we knew today it was completely different from Saturday, so we decided to go for the sprint in the small bunch. I decided to start my sprint really far from the finish, and when I saw that no one could pass me, I was more motivated in the final.”

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