Tour de Pologne Women: Linda Zanetti wins stage 2 cobbled sprint

Linda Zanetti (UNo-X Mobility) won stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne Women, accelerating away on the rising, rough cobbled finish in Chełm, in south-east Poland.

Zanetti was sixth on stage 1 but took advantage of a lead-out to be well-placed in the final 300 metres. She was able to open a gap in sight of the line to win by several bike lengths.

Marie Le Net (FDJ-Suez) was second, and Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ).

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Stage 1 winner Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) was boxed in and finished eighth but kept the race leader's yellow jersey. She leads Zanetti by five seconds, with Le Net third at ten seconds.

The 100km stage covered a long loop south and then west of Chełm on largely flat and fast country roads. Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) was one of a number of riders to go on the attack, but the peloton was determined that the stage would end in a sprint.

With 30km to go, Consonni won the intermediate sprint and took a precious three-second time bonus ahead of Clara Copponi (Lidl-Trek) and Hélène Hesters (Liv AlUla Jayco).

The surge in speed sparked an important attack and split in the peloton. Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez) tried a solo move, and then the peloton split again as another FDJ-Suez rider attacked. A group of 20 or so riders got away and gradually opened a gap of 20 seconds.

Tiff Cromwell was in the move but was called back with a Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto teammate to protect Consonni in the final kilometres.

On a rising road with 15km to go, Francesca Pellegrini (UAE Team ADQ) made a solo attack from the attackers as the peloton closed the gap. Everyone hesitated, and so Pellegrini pushed on and extended it to over 30 seconds.

For a moment, Pellegrini appeared to have a chance of a solo victory. However, the sprinters' teams gathered on the front and soon closed down the gap, sweeping up Pellegrini with 1.8km to go.

Positioning was vital for the cobbled final kilometre, and Maria Giulia Confalonieri hit the rough stones first with Zanetti on her wheel.

Other riders tried to match their pace, but then Zanetti started her sprint early in the chicane-like finish and powered away from her rivals to win.

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