Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina: Mie Bjørndal Ottestad outsprints race leader Ellen van Dijk in reduced sprint to win stage 2

Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility) sprinted to victory in stage 2 of the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina, beating race leader Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) and Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease a Bike) in a reduced sprint in Valdefuentes.

Only a small group of around 15 riders contested the final of the 109km stage after a climb in the final 5km split the peloton apart in Spain.

Starting the day in second overall, bonus seconds mean Ottestad will move closer to the race lead, but Van Dijk will hold onto the jersey going into the third and final stage on Saturday.

Ottestad’s teammate Katrine Aalerud helped set up the victory, attacking with 9km and forcing Lidl-Trek into the chase to bring things back together with 3km to go and allow the Norwegian champion to sprint for the victory.

“It was a hectic stage with crosswinds and in the bunch, it was quite stressful at the start,” Ottestad said at the finish.

“We had the climb and we had to be on all day, but I think the team did a really great job. One of my teammates was in the front in the last kilometres so I could just stay behind and chill and then go for the sprint.”

Thanks to a tailwind, it was a fast start to the 109km stage, which prevented any breakaways from getting away in the first half of the stage so the peloton remained compact for most of the day.

Going into the second half of the stage, the WorldTour teams began to push the pace in the wind, rapidly whittling down the bunch even on the flat and putting many riders in trouble before the final climb began.

The 5.4km Alto de Robledo shrunk the peloton even further, and over the top, there were only around 20 riders in the front group, including race leader Van Dijk.

After the descent, Aalerud launched a move on a small ramp 9km from the finish, but being a threat to the leader’s jersey she was brought back by Lidl-Trek and the race regrouped with 3km to go and opened up for a sprint in Valdefuentes.

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