Vuelta a Burgos Féminas: Lotta Henttala wins stage 1 sprint ahead of crash

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Lotta Henttala (EF Education-Cannondale) won stage 1 of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, sprinting past late attacker Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Deceuninck) on the final metres to win a crash-marred sprint.

Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) was one of the riders involved in a high-speed crash with 150 metres to go, with her team confirming that she fractured her nasal bone and has a concussion. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) just managed to avoid the crash to finish third.

The stage had been dominated by a gutsy breakaway from Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility) who was 3:30 minutes ahead with 30km to go but was caught on a small rise just before the two-kilometre mark, with Schrempf attacking right away.

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“There were some crosswinds today and I had a lot of help from my teammates, especially Nina [Kessler]. In the last 10 kilometres, she kept me calm, so I just wanted to stick to her wheel. She dropped me off at the front for the last little kickers, and Noemi [Rüegg] and Letizia [Borghesi] were there also helping me out on the front," Henttala said in a team statement.

"I knew it was still a super long way to go to the finish, so I stuck to the plan. There was that unfortunate crash, so I hope everyone is OK, but when that happened, I decided to go then. I didn’t want to be on the ground. 

"It was quite a long sprint. I don’t know if it was actually a long sprint, but it felt like it! I’m happy to have finished first.”

How it Unfolded

Despite several attempts, no breakaway got away from the peloton in the beginning of the 123.3-kilometre stage. With relatively strong southwesterly winds, everybody was attentive for echelons. Soon after the first classified climb after 52km, the peloton was split into three groups – and in the midst of all this, Aalerud snuck away on a solo.

While the peloton came back together eventually, the 29-year-old Norwegian built a sizable advantage that increased to 3:30 minutes with 30km to go and stayed above three minutes for a long time as the peloton seemed disinterested in chasing her.

Aalerud was first over the Alto de la Nuez and Alto del Aguilón, putting her in the red mountain jersey for stage 2. After an unsuccessful attack by Floortje Mackaij (Movistar Team), her teammate Claire Steels went away on the chase. Steels was second over the Alto del Aguilón but never made it up to Aalerud and was reeled in 15km from the line.

By that point, Aalerud was still well over two minutes ahead, but as only Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) was chasing, the gap did not come down much. Only in the last ten kilometres did Markus’ teammates Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser join the chase, finally bringing the gap below two minutes and splitting the peloton in the crosswinds in the process.

Five kilometres from the finish, the gap dipped below one minute, and Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM) made a move from the peloton. The 27-year-old Pole was caught with 3.5km to go, and Aalerud’s advantage was now down to 20 seconds.

A last rise to the two-kilometre mark spelled the end of Aalerud’s breakaway, but she had earned herself the combativity prize in addition to the mountain jersey. Schrempf counterattacked just before the Norwegian was caught, opening a seven-second gap with her trademark late move.

Lidl-Trek made a move on the final kilometre with Lucinda Brand pulling Clara Copponi off the front of the peloton, but Liv-AlUla-Jayco closed the gap to Copponi before Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) started her lead-out for Sofia Bertizzolo with 300 metres to go.

After a late left turn, Bertizzolo came out of the slipstream with 150 metres to go but lost control of her front wheel and crashed into Balsamo, pushing her into barriers at high speed. Balsamo left the race for medical treatment, and the team confirmed a fractured nasal and a concussion, while Bertizzolo was taken to the hospital for a medical check.

Swinkels looked around at the sound of the crash and accelerated again to sprint herself, but now, 100 metres from the finish Henttala had jumped from her wheel, chasing down Schrempf who was still about ten metres ahead. Henttala passed Schrempf in the last 50 metres to win the stage as the Austrian champion still finished second.

Wiebes who had been on Balsamo’s wheel and narrowly avoided the crash came from behind and sprinted to third place.

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