Two years after her retirement from cycling and one year after returning to the peloton Lotta Henttala took her first WorldTour win since 2018 when she outsprinted late escapee Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) to take the first stage of Vuelta a Burgos. Schrempf had been attempting to solo to a win after a late attack but was caught by the peloton on the line. A crash impacted Wiebes and took down Elisa Balsamo, but the Dutchwoman was still able to finish third.
After winning the opening stage, Henttala pulled on the leader’s jersey ahead of the second stage on Friday. Schrempf will need to find four seconds and Wiebes six seconds to take the jersey from Henttala on the hilly second stage.
How it unfolded
- A few riders attacked early in the stage but nothing was sticking until Katrine Aalerud of Uno-X Mobility made her way off the front of the peloton. The Norwegian rider would gain upwards of three minutes only to be caught just shy of 2 km left in the race by a chase led by Lidl-Trek and SD Worx-Protime.
- Schrempf smartly counterattacked as Aalerud was caught by the peloton in what is becoming a signature move for the Fenix-Deceuninck team and quickly got a gap and looked like a possible late-break winner.
- But the field was determined: Demi Vollering, winner of La Vuelta España Femenina and Itzulia Women, was a key leadout for Wiebes, alongside their teammate Marlen Reusser, and Lidl-Trek were working for Balsamo, who won Gent-Wevelgem earlier in the season.
- Unfortunately, a crash on the final straight before the line took down the Italian sprinter, with Wiebes on her wheel. Wiebes was able to remain upright but her sprint was impacted. In the chaos, Henttala was able to steer clear of the rest and catch Schrempf to take the stage. Wiebes crossed just behind in third.
Stage Top 10
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Brief Analysis
- In the sprint, UAE Team ADQ led the peloton, and it was one of their riders – Sofia Bertizzolo – who went down along with Balsamo who was trying to move around her fellow Italian on the inside. The barriers going into the final 500 meters were starting to narrow, which also factored into the collision.
- Henttala had been on the wheel of Ruby Roseman-Gannon of Liv AlUla Jayco but came around her as the riders were going down, to the other side of the road. As Henttala said post-race, the finish had a “little bit (of) headwind, so there was a little bit (of) hesitation. When I started my sprint, then there was a crash on my left side.”
- Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) was also up there in the sprint. The Swiss rider will be riding for the overall over the weekend but was able to start the race off with fourth on the opening stage.
- Megan Jastrab (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) returned to the peloton with ninth on the stage after fracturing her pelvis in December. She will wear the Youth Classification jersey in the second stage.
GC Top 5 after Stage 1
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Crash Updates
Balsamo and Bertizzolo were the two most impacted by the crash in the finale.
“Following the crash that occurred today in the finale of the first stage of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and that involved UAE Team ADQ athlete Sofia Bertizzolo, clinical examinations carried out at the Hospital Universitario de Burgos revealed a fracture of the radius of the left forearm,” UAE Team ADQ confirmed after the race.
Both riders will likely be out of the peloton for some time. According to UAE Team ADQ’s medical staff, they will wait to evaluate Bertizzolo until after a plaster cast is placed.
Balsamo’s 2023 season was drastically impacted by a crash last year at RideLondon that saw the former World Champion miss over a month of riding due to compound fractures of the right mandibular condyle and mandibular symphysis. She returned to racing at the Tour de France Femmes in July but abandoned the race ahead of the seventh stage. She would go on to win a stage of the Simac Ladies Tour in September.
Quote of the day
It’s been quite a long journey for me to come back. I had a baby a few years ago, and then I had the long COVID. So yeah. But I started to feel better, you know, month by month. So it’s been lovely.
Hettala after winning stage 1 of Vuelta a Burgos
What’s next?
From the Wheel Talk Newsletter:
Stage 2 has less elevation gain than the first stage, but does end with a Category 2 ascent. A Cat 3 earlier in the stage might offer an opportunity for some early breakaways, but once the race reaches the top of the 7 km climb they have another 91 km to race.
The finale is the really interesting bit of the second stage, with a few minor uncategorized climbs in the final 20 km that will test the legs before the race gets to the 3.8 km Cat 2 summit finish.
Alto de Rosales may average 5.2% but has slopes of 10%, with the most challenging sections near the top. It will be a stage that sets the scene for the general classification.
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