Demi Vollering secured her first victory of the season wearing the colours of her new team FDJ-SUEZ on the opening stage of the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana.
The Dutch rider attacked just ahead of the final climb, Alto de Barx, with 18km to go and held off a chasing Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), both her former teammates, to claim the stage win and the leader's jersey in Gandia.
Vollering finished 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Reusser and third-placed Van der Breggen, and will head into stage 2 wearing the overall leader's jersey.
Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) won the bunch sprint for fourth place, as the peloton crossed the finish line 1:30 behind.
How it unfolded
The peloton tackled 112km from Alzira to Gandia on the opening stage at Setmana Calenciana. The event also marked the official return of former World and Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, who announced a surprise comeback with SD Worx-Protime after a three-year retirement from pro racing.
It was a lumpy route with three categorised climbs; Alto de Serra Grossa (2km at 5%), Alto de Barxeta (1.9km at 5.2%) and Alto de Barx (4.6km at 5.7%), which peaked at just 17km from the finish line in Gandia.
Marina Garau (BePink-Imatra-Bongioanni) embarked on a solo breakaway during the early kilometres of the stage, pushing her lead out to over a minute. While Mariana Líbano (Eneicat-CMTeam) attempted to bridge across, the Portuguese rider wasn't able to connect with Garau, and she was reeled back into the field with 80km to go.
Garau continued out front alone toward the first climb of the day and managed to hold off the chase as she crested the Alto de Serra Grossa, taking top mountain points before she was caught on the descent.
Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) won the intermediate sprint for points and a three-second time bonus in Barxeta before FDJ-SUEZ, AG Insurance-Soudal and Movistar led the peloton into the foot of the Alto de Barxeta.
The peloton tackled 112km from Alzira to Gandia on the opening stage at Setmana Valenciana. The event also marked the official return of former World and Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, who announced a surprise comeback with SD Worx-Protime after a three-year retirement from pro racing.
The 2023 Tour de France winner pushed the pace on the upper slopes of Barx, increasing her lead to 45 seconds on chasers Van der Breggen and Reusser on the descent. The main field barreled into the final kilometres less than a minute behind.
Vollering soared into the final kilometre poised to secure her first stage win of the season with her new team, and the overall race lead, while Reusser and Van der Breggen were forced to settle for the minor places on the podium.
Results
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