Chiara Consonni wins Tour of Chongming Island(Image credit: UAE Team ADQ / )
Chiara Consonni wins Tour of Chongming Island(Image credit: UAE Team ADQ)
After fourth and third places, Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) won the final stage of the Tour of Chongming Island, outsprinting Daria Pikulik (Human Powered Health) and Martina Fidanza (Ceratizit-WNT).
The time bonuses meant that Consonni also won the race overall, taking the yellow jersey from stage 2 winner Hanna Tserakh (Li Ning Star Ladies) after starting the day two seconds back in third place.
“I’m really happy to win this stage race," said Consonni. "I must say thanks to my team because day by day we improved.”
It was the Italian rider's first overall Women's WorldTour stage race win, and her fourth time across the line first since she moved to UAE Team ADQ from Valcar Travel & Service at the start of the season.
“This year with the new team I really improved my skills in the Giro in the Tour and I think next year maybe I will grow, year by year, to improve everything and to maybe be one of the best sprinters in the world,” said the 24 year old.
The final stage didn't see a breakaway as the sprinters' teams kept the race together in order to fight for time at the three intermediate sprints before setting up the final mass sprint where Consonni could raise her arms in the air.
How it unfolded
The final 112.3-kilometre stage took place around Chongming’s New City Park and consisted of a starting lap that included a mountain sprint (a bridge across a small river), with the first intermediate sprint situated at the first crossing of the finish line after 31.8 km. Seven laps of an 11.5-kilometre circuit followed, with further intermediate sprints after the second and fourth lap.
Tserakh went for the mountain sprint, putting her, Nina Kessler (Jayco AlUla), and Laura Tomasi (UAE Team ADQ) on one point each. Since Tserakh was highest in GC, this meant that she won the QOM jersey.
The first intermediate sprint was then hotly contested between Mylène de Zoete (Ceratizit-WNT) and Consonni. Wearing the green points jersey, the Italian was in the lead for much of the sprint, but De Zoete threw her bike on the line to take three bonus seconds ahead of Consonni, with Josie Nelson (Team Coop-Hitec Products) snatching the final bonus second. This put De Zoete into the virtual GC lead, two seconds ahead of Tserakh and Consonni.
There were a couple of breakaway attempts on the following laps, but nobody could get away. In the second intermediate sprint, Consonni had more success, crossing the line first to take the three-second bonification. Behind her, Finnish champion Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) took two bonus seconds, followed by white jersey Tang Xin of the Chinese national team taking one bonus second. This put Consonni in the virtual overall lead, one second ahead of De Zoete, while Tang kept a one-second lead over Ahtosalo in the U23 classification.
The third intermediate sprint was won by Maggie Coles-Lyster (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) ahead of De Zoete and Pikulik while Consonni was boxed in by Pikulik. With the two bonus seconds, De Zoete was the virtual GC leader again with Consonni one second behind.
On the penultimate lap, Jarmila Machačová (Team Dukla Praha) became the most successful escapee of the day, actually getting a gap on the peloton when she attacked with 13 km to go – but the Czech champion was reeled in again only a few hundred metres later, and her attack over the finish line into the final lap and around a left-hand corner came to nothing.
In the sprint, Ceratizit-WNT led out Fidanza well, and she was leading for a while close to the barriers on the right-hand side as Tserakh launched across the road. But the yellow jersey had been too far behind and couldn’t contest for the win, instead Consonni launched from Fidanza’s slipstream to take the lead. Pikulik made a late surge to pip Fidanza to second place while Consonni raised her arms in triumph. Ahtosalo finished fourth.
With the stage victory, Consonni also won the green jersey while Tang kept the white jersey as Ahtosalo missed out on bonus seconds at the finish.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
