CANYON//SRAM Racing had an impressive start to Vuelta a Burgos, with Chloé Dygert sprinting to third place on the opening stage in Medina de Pomar, Spain. Teammate Soraya Paladin took maximum points in the only classified mountain sprint of the day. Also claiming bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, Paladin is placed fourth on the general classification, with Chloé in third place at six seconds.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

A strong headwind for part of the stage meant that breakaways had a limited chance on the 115km stage from Quintanaortuno to Medina de Pomar.  An early duo was caught at the halfway point of the stage, giving Soraya the opportunity to take QOM points. After this, a solo rider built a lead but gained no more than 1:15 minutes on the peloton. A late breakaway was doomed as the sprinter teams prepared for the finale. CANYON//SRAM Racing’s Sarah Roy kept the speed high with two kilometres remaining. In the sprint, Chloé followed wheels, narrowly avoiding a crash, and launched her sprint to take third place behind stage winner Lorena Wiebes (SDW) and Elisa Balsamo (TFS).

RIDER REACTIONS

Chloé Dygert: “We had a bit of an early lead out, but it got us out of the cluster. Soraya opened a nice little gap for me to get through safely to the front. I am very happy to be learning and seeing how I can become a better rider and teammate!”

Soraya Paladin: “The QOM wasn’t in our plan, but yesterday and the day before, I wasn’t feeling amazing, so I wanted to try my legs. I was in the front, and I went quite early to feel how my legs reacted. When I saw the FDJ rider coming, I was thinking of having fun and going for it. We also know who wins the last stage will win the overall mountain jersey.”

“In the intermediate sprint, I was in the front with Roy and Alex (Morrice). I knew the downhill and wanted to take it from the front for the team, so with this, I took the bonus seconds.”

“In the final, we wanted to start the lead out late. But both Roy and I saw that Chloé wasn’t in the best position, so we invested our energy to change that. When I did the left corner with Chloé, I knew I couldn’t have the speed she needed for the sprint, so I moved and let her go for it.”

HOW TO WATCH

Vuelta a Burgos can be followed on Twitter with #VueltaBurgos. The stages are broadcast daily from 14:30-16:00CEST on TDP, CYLTV, TV3, GCN, Eurosport, Burgos 8, Claro TV, FloBikes, RTVC, and Zello app.

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