Maike van der Duin sprinted to third place on today’s stage three at Vuelta a Burgos Feminas. The CANYON//SRAM Racing rider was positioned by her teammates and put in an impressive sprint to her first Women’s World Tour podium of the season. Maike was delighted with the result after a delayed start to her season due to an ankle fracture in December.

An early breakaway formed after 10km of racing, with Neve Bradbury strongly representing the team. The five riders were caught with just 2.7km remaining on the stage after Neve took three bonus seconds at the last intermediate sprint. In the final, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka steered Maike into pole position, taking the final corner in fourth place and ready for the sprint finish. The stage was won by Lorena Wiebes (SDW), with Maike sprinting to a strong third place.

RIDER REACTIONS

Maike van der Duin: “The plan was to go for me for what we expected would be a bunch sprint. My teammates rode around and near me the entire stage. Over one of the hardest parts of the race, three small climbs of the stage, I was well-positioned by the team, and it meant I could save as much energy as possible for the sprint. It was nice for us to have Neve in the breakaway. It gave us a focal point for the stage and meant we could take a breath in the peloton. In the final five kilometres, it was a long, wide road and some headwind, so I told my teammates that I wanted to wait with our lead out and do just one big effort near the end.

Agnieszka was the last rider in front of me and gave a good push into the corner. I saved a lot of energy and could take over from Agnieszka and get in the wheel of Wiebes. It was good teamwork from everyone. I can be happy with today. It’s not the old Maike yet, but to have this result after my injury in winter and some hard times is nice. It’s a good step forward and something we can build on from here. I’m happy, the team is happy, and we have one stage tomorrow to give it all!”

Neve Bradbury: “Boilard (Uno-X) was away alone, and after an attack, I had a lot of speed, so I attacked myself thinking someone would follow. When no one followed, I committed anyway to bridging across to the lone rider. Eventually, we became five riders away. The break was formed in the first 10km, so we had to manage the pace, but we could keep a nice tempo amongst us. It was a good situation for our team, and everyone in the break was committed. We want to move Elise and Soraya up on GC tomorrow and look for a stage win.”

HOW TO WATCH

The general classification remains unchanged, with Elise Chabbey holding fourth place at +23 seconds and teammate Soraya Paladin in sixth at +26 seconds. The final and queen stage of Vuelta a Burgos Feminas starts at 12:37CEST. The stage can be followed on X with #VueltaBurgos. The broadcast starts at 14:30CEST on Teledeport, cyltv, La 8 Burgos, La Liga, Fox Sports, Eurosport and FloBikes.

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