Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina: Ally Wollaston of AG Insurance-Soudal (right) sprints to stage 1 win just ahead of Marianne Vos of Visma-Lease a Bike(Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Marianne Vos of Visma-Lease a Bike finishes second (on left) to stage winner Ally Wollaston of AG Insurance-Soudal (Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Arlenis Sierra of Movistar Team crosses the finish line in third, while ahead runner-up Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) protests a line change by stage winner Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) (Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Stage 1 winner Ally Wollaston of AG Insurance Soudal Team receives congratulations by her teammates(Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton prior to the Volta a Catalunya Femenina 2024 Stage 1 (Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) out-sprinted Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and won the opening stage of the eVolta-Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina.
From the bunch sprint in Manresa, Arlenis Sierra (Movistar) secured the final spot on the podium.
Vos threw up her arm toward Wollaston after the explosive finish contested on the Muralla del Carmen, seeming to motion displeasure with a line change by the New Zealander in the closing 100 metres.
Shortly after the finish, race offficials ruled that Wollaston had not impeded Vos and the contact was insufficient to overturn the results. Wollaston was deemed the stage winner and the first leader in the general classification.
After four editions of the reVolta as a one-day event, the race debuted Friday as a UCI 2.1 stage event across north-east Spain, with the third and final stage taking place Sunday in Barcelona.
The climbing commenced right away under sunny skies at the three-day stage race with the opening 45.5km, all uphill to the first of two category 3 climbs, Col de Pinos, which officially was 6.9km in length at an average 3% gradient. All early attacks in the first 20km were closed down by the peloton.
Across the Col de Pinos, Justin Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) led a small group and earned three QOM points, riding ahead of Mie Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility) and her AG Insurance teammate Mireia Benito.
Four kilometres beyond the crest of the opening climb, Mireia Trías (Massi Baix Ter) accelerated on a solo attack. The WorldTour teams of AG Insurance-Soudal, FDJ-SUEZ and Visma-Lease a Bike set an unhurried pace for the peloton with half of the race still to go.
With 38km to go, Trías was back in the peloton as the pace ramped up for the intermediate sprint in Calef. Kim LeCourt (AG Insurance-Soudal) edged Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) for the three points and bonus seconds, Markus Riejannee (Visma-Lease a Bike) third in line.
The peloton stayed together on the descent to the base of the final climb, Coll de Cal Pallarès (4.5km at 3.5%), with ramps as high as 9%. A procession of teams - Visma-Lease a Bike, Cofidis, AG Insurance-Soudal, FDJ-SUEZ and Arkéa-B&B Hotels Women - spread across the wide road on the lower slopes.
Once again, Ghekiere timed her acceleration across another category 3 climb with Benito behind and the AG Insurance-Soudal riders added to their QOM hauls for the race, Ghekiere in the virtual mountain classification lead with six points.
From the crest of that category 3 climb, it was downhill for the final 22km back into Manresa. The first 10km saw the field streak across the easier terrain in single file, AG Insurance-Soudal leading the way.
With 3km to go Anastasiya Kolesava (Canyon-SRAM Generation) put her head down and charged on a solo attack, but the pace behind picked up and she could not hold off the sprinters.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
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