Finnish Lotta Lepistö wins the sprint in Vila-Real and the US rider Ruth Winder keeps leading
The Finnish champion Lotta Lepistö has been imposed in the massive arrival of the second stage of Setmana Ciclista Valenciana that has finished in Vila-real. The runner of Trek - Segafredo team was the fastest and crossed the finish line in a very tight sprint ahead of the Italian Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Valcar - Cylance) and the Italian Elena Cecchini (Canyon - Sram).
The stage, between Borriol and Vila-Real, has consisted of 98 kilometers without any scoring port for the classification of the mountain. No obstate, the 166 cyclists who took the start had to face a winding route, a continuous up and down through the interior of the province of Castellón through the towns of Cabanes, Benlloch, Vall d'Alba, La Barona, Vilafamés, Sant Joan de Moró, Alcora, Ribelsabes and Onda.
The cyclists rolled compact the first leg of the stage. In the first hour of the race, 40 kilometers were covered without any attack by runners. It was from the town of Vilafamés when the race began to liven up. However, the continuous attempts did not end up forging because of the control exercised by the teams with fast women, who were interested in arriving at the sprint in Vila-Real.
20 kilometers from the finish line, on the way to Onda, the only special sprint of the day was played. The Norwegian Susanne Andersen, from Team Sunweb, took first place there, who snatched the leader jersey from Colombian Diana Carolina Peñuela, from Ale - Cipollini, who did not score.
In the last 20 kilometers some cyclists tried to surprise the peloton. The French Noemie Abgrall, of the Charente Maritime, tried it alone and was at the front of the race until with 13 kilometers left she was neutralized.
From there, the teams of sprinters took over the race, especially Team Sunweb, who relied on his sprinter Coryn Rivera. In the last kilometers, the Trek - Segafredo, CCC - Liv and Movistar Team teams also showed up in the peloton. Finally, Lotta Lepistö took the stage.
After the second stage, the American Ruth Winder (Trek - Segafredo) keeps the leader jersey, now with 6 "advantage over the Italian Soraya Paladín (Ale - Cipollini) and 8" over the Canadian Karol Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans).
The leader of the mountain will be wore tomorrow's Soraya Paladin (Ale - Cipollini), the special sprint Susanne Andersen (Team Sunweb), the best sub23 Evita Muzic (FDJ Nouvelle) and the first autonomic rider, the Valencian Cristina Martínez (Bizkaia - Durango).
In the act of cutting of tape in Borriol they were present the deputy of Sports of the Deputation of Castellón, Lluís Martínez, and the mayor of the locality, Silverio Tena. For their part, the trophies were presented in Vila-Real by the Councilor for Sports, Javier Serralvo, and the President of the Federació de Ciclisme de la Comunitat Valenciana, Amadeo Olmos.
The third stage between La Nucía and the Alto de Xorret de Catí
The province of Alicante will host, this Saturday, the queen stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, of 110 kilometers. It will start at one o'clock in the afternoon from the Ciutat Esportiva Camilo Cano in La Nucía, in the Marina Baixa, from where the cyclists will go to Benidorm and advance, parallel to the coast, to El Campello, in the Alacantí region, passing through The Vila Joiosa.
From there, the runners will turn to Bussot and then to Mutxamel, following Sant Vicent del Raspeig and Agost, to enter the Alcoià region by climbing the Maigmó port (second category) and passing through Castalla to take the last climb of the day, the high of Xorret de Catí, special category port where the goal will be located.
