Progressing day by day, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka capped off Setmana Ciclista Volta Feminina de la Comunitat Valenciana with a standout performance, taking 2nd place on the fourth and final stage.

In a fiercely contested bunch sprint to the line in Alicante, Agnieszka impressively secured herself the most coveted wheel and pushed a fading Elisa Balsamo (LTK) to the limit, falling just short in a close finish.

“For the sprint, I knew Elisa Balsamo would go, so I stayed on her wheel. It was super close. But I’m also happy with my second place and my shape right now. I didn’t expect this at this time of year!”

Agnieszka’s remarkable upward trajectory – 7th on stage 1, 6th on stage 2, 3rd on stage 3, and now 2nd – secured her 6th in the general classification. With the overall podium effectively settled after three riders forged ahead on the decisive opening stage, the battle for other GC positions came down to bonus seconds and consistent high placings. Agnieszka shone in this area, highlighted by her 4th place in the points classification. In the end, just 13 seconds separated 5th to 10th in the final overall standings.

HOW IT UNFOLDED

The 132 kilometre stage from Elche to Alicante was the most demanding on paper, with over 2200m of elevation packed into relentless, twisting mountainous roads.

As the peloton gradually dwindled in the climb-heavy first half, a breakaway of nine riders formed with 65km to go. As the terrain became more forgiving, the peloton swelled to over 60 riders.

The break gained a maximum lead of nearly 2:30 minutes with 40km remaining. As the riders navigated the undulating descents from the race’s high point and hit the flat run-in to Alicante, they still held 1:43 mins with 17km to go.

CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto contributed to the chase with Justyna Czapla pulling strongly, working alongside Team Visma | Lease a Bike, who were securing their overall prospects and also had no rider in the break. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Kasia Niewiadoma added firepower in the closing 10km.

“Our DS (Adam Szabó) decided to work with Visma when the time gap wasn’t coming down, and Justyna was part of that effort,” Agnieszka says. “Then, as we got closer to the finish and the gap remained big, we also put Cecilie and Kasia to work while I focused on positioning. They did an amazing job, and I’m so grateful for all of them. The stage was super hard, and their support was incredible.”

With just 20 seconds remaining at 2km to go, the breakaway looked like they could still fight for victory, but hesitation and a lack of commitment played into the peloton’s hands. The hungry peloton caught their prey with just 700m to go.

Agnieszka entered the final 300m in prime position, shadowing Balsamo and readying herself for the jump. It was the Italian her launched the sprint with 200m to go and although Agnieszka stayed glued to her wheel, she never quite mustered enough raw power to edge past the decorated former world champion.

Today’s result marks Agnieszka’s sixth top 10 of the year in just seven race days – an incredibly encouraging start to the season!

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