Sandra Alonso continued the success her teammate Marta Lach started at the Tour of Chongming Island by winning the final WorldTour race of the year, the Tour of Guangxi. The Ceratizit-WNT rider won the one-day event from a two-person move with Giada Borghesi of Human Powered Health. Lach took third by winning the sprint from a reduced group 2:47 behind Alonso.
How it happened
- It was a warm day in China when the women took to the start of the last WorldTour race of the year. The new course offered a dynamic race and the peloton split and came back together multiple times over the first 90 km.
- Borghesi attacked with 35 km to go and only Alonso could follow the Italian. They worked well together and gained an advantage of over one minute going into the final lap of the course.
- Borghesi tried to put pressure on Alonso the final time up Qingxiu Mountain, but Alonso was able to hold on and then attack over the top of the climb. They came back together, with less than a minute advantage over a chasing group of 20 containing Lach.
- Attacks in the chasing group impacted the chase and the time to the duo out front grew. Borghesi led into the finale and it wasn’t until the last 200 metres that Alonso sprinted around her break-mate to take the win.
- Lach took the final podium spot and her teammate Kathrin Schweinberger took fourth.
Top 10
Loading...
Brief analysis
- Most of the top teams opted to skip the final two WWT races in China, and as a result, Ceratizit-WNT took home most of the points on offer. This is crucial for the German team as 2025 is a relegation year. Teams like SD Worx-Protime, Lidl-Trek, and Canyon-SRAM are likely safe come the end of the 2025 season, but Ceratizit-WNT, AG Insurance-Soudal, Human Powered Health, Uno-X and Roland sit at the bottom of the rankings. Roland is the lowest in 17th, behind the Continental team VolkerWessels. EF-Oatly-Cannondale is looking primed to secure a WWT license for the 2026 season, depending on how next year goes.
- On Friday, the UCI released the list of men’s and women’s teams that have submitted the required documents to be a WorldTeam in 2025. Ceratizit-WNT was missing from the list but the team took to Twitter to clarify the situation, stating that the reason for the absence was an administrative issue.
- Tour of Guangxi marked the final race for Lach as a member of Ceratizit-WNT. The Polish rider will join SD Worx-Protime in 2025 on a two-year deal. She has been a key member of the German team for the last four years.
- This year might be the last time we see a poor WorldTeam turn-out for both the Tour of Chongming Island and the Tour of Guangxi. Rumours started circulating after the Simac Ladies Tour that the UCI is considering requiring WorldTeams to attend most WorldTour races, with few exceptions. Men’s WorldTeams have a similar rule already in place.
Did we do a good job with this story?