Maryland Cycling Classic women: Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka awarded victory in photo-finish sprint against Alison Jackson

Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) was awarded the photo-finish sprint to win the inaugural women's race at the Maryland Cycling Classic held in Baltimore.

Skalniak-Sójka was the first to launch her sprint from a four-rider breakaway that emerged just ahead of the final lap of the race, and she crossed the line by a whisker ahead of Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly), who was forced to settle for second place.

"I'm so happy that finally I got this first spot in the season," Skalniak-Sójka said. "I worked so hard - there were ups and downs this season, but we ride super good as a team, we back up each other.

"I had flat tire one of the lap, and the team waited for me, so I'm really grateful."

Also in the breakaway was Emma Langley (Aegis), who finished in third place in the sprint, while Jackson's teammate Clara Emond finished fourth.

Marta Jaskulska (Ceratizit Pro Cycling), who was distanced from the initial move, hung on for fifth place on the day.

It was a disappointing day for EF Education-Oatly, as teammates Emond and Jackson led the race into the last four kilometres with Emond launching an attack with 3.1km to go.

As soon as the catch was made, Jackson then counterattacked, but Skalniak-Sójka and Langley were quick to respond.

Langley was the next to make a move, but Emond closed the gap before launching her own attack, again. She wasn't strong enough to open a gap, and the four regrouped with just over a kilometre to go.

Emond led the race into the last three corners with Skalniak-Sójka on her wheel, followed by Jackson, and Langley into the final straightaway.

Skalniak-Sójka then launched her sprint first, but Jackson responded quickly, and in a drag race to the line, it ended up a photo-finish sprint between the two powerhouses with the Canyon-Sram rider taking the victory.

"It was really fast," Skalniak-Sójka said. "First, with some cobble sections, with so many attacks, and in the end, we went with two riders from EF and they were attacking me all the time, so it was quite hard. But in the end, I'm so proud, I'm happy that I could make it and win this race."

Jackson was visibly disappointed with the result after learning of the jury's decision on the photo finish.

"In the final, their tactic was to not ride, so we rode. It was a fair and square sprint," the Canadian champion told Cyclingnews.

"I was strong - there was just a lot of stuff that I had to manage. I'm not here just to ride around. We put in a good effort."

Edmond said the team could be proud of the work even if they didn't get the result they were after.

"The main goal was to have numbers in the final. And I think we did a good job. We were super aggressive from the start," Edmond said.

"We tried to attack until the end, but nothing was going so then I tried my best with the few yeah energy I had left in my legs."

How it unfolded

The Maryland Cycling Classic celebrated its return this year with the addition of a 115.2-kilometre UCI 1.1-ranked race for women, competing on four laps of a 28.8-kilometre circuit that ran north along Faith Road to a mid-loop mountain prime, with a mostly downhill run-in to the finish line in Baltimore.

The inaugural race began in humid but temperate conditions, with Aegis' Emma Langley going clear on the first of four laps.

When she was brought back, Emily Newsome (Fearless Femmes) jumped away, but she too came back on the first QOM, where Henrietta Christie (EF Education-Oatly) claimed the maximum points over Melisa Rollins.

Kayla Davis (Cynisca) was the next to attack, and soon Kylee Hanel (Aegis) and Chloe Patrick (Cynisca) tried to bridge, but it all came back together before the end of the lap.

On the second lap, Christie went on the attack and gained a lead of a minute, but when Daniel Hengeveld (Ceratizit) made a move to bridge across, Christie sat up to let her join. The pair worked smoothly together but couldn't gain more than half a minute on the chasing peloton.

On the third QOM, Christie attacked while Hengeveld went back to the field. Having sealed the overall mountains classification, Christie too was then caught.

Andrea Cyr (Fount Cycling) led the peloton across the line at the bell lap, winning the intermediate sprint. Not long after, a four-rider escape formed, with Agnieska Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM), Marta Jaskulska (Ceratizit), Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) and Emma Langley (Aegis) gaining 15 seconds. Clara Edmond (EF Education-Oatly) increased her team's chances by bridging across.

Natalie Quinn (Cynisca Cycling) also attempted to bridge across but was left in between the leaders on the road and the reduced peloton that was nearly two minutes back.

Emond pulled the five leaders into the last Greater Roland Park QOM, a pace that saw Jaskulska distanced from the move on the slower slopes.

Jackson then led the four riders over the top, but it was Skalniak-Sójka who took the points, though Christie had already secured the mountains classification earlier in the race from the previous breakaway.

The four riders remained in contention for the victory in the last kilometres of the race.

Results

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