Elise Chabbey took the lead in the mountain classification after stage four of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour today in Guadalajara, Spain. The CANYON//SRAM Racing rider suffered from an early crash but was still able to collect maximum points on the final mountain climb and later sprint to seventh place.

HOW IT HAPPENED

An early four-rider breakaway was given three minutes advantage but was quickly reeled in as the peloton hit the small climbs in the latter half of the race. Various attacks, including a strong move from Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka and later another from Ricarda Bauernfeind, were never able to gain more than a handful of seconds. A dangerous two-rider move with Lianne Lippert (MOV) and Demi Vollering (SDW) with less than 4km remaining forced CANYON//SRAM Racing to chase. When it was caught, Chloé Dygert saw an opportunity for another late attack but the peloton was able to react and finally, the small group of leaders sprinted to the line. Marianne Vos took another stage win and retained her leader jersey while Chabbey sprinted to sixth and Dygert held on for ninth place.

Following stage four, Dygert remains second in the general classification at +25 seconds. Chabbey and Niewiadoma both moved up one place to sit fifth and sixth respectively. Chabbey leads the mountain classification, and Dygert is second in the points classification.

RIDER REACTION

Elise Chabbey: “After my early crash, the race doctor told me I would need some stitches at the finish line. Mentally, it was a little hard to focus, but in the end, I could manage to switch focus back to the race. Especially when the race became hard, then it was easy.”

“It was not really the plan to go for the QOM points, but I was there, and it was not an effort to take the points, so I decided to go for it. After Chloé did a late attack, I tried to follow the wheels and then do the best I could in the sprint.”

“For stage five, we’ll see how the legs are feeling tomorrow morning. For sure, our team is motivated to get a victory here at this tour, and we’re committed, so everything is possible.”

HOW TO WATCH

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour can be followed on Twitter with #LaVueltaFemenina. A live broadcast will be shown on RTVE, NOS, FloBikes, RTVC Senal, Eurosport, Sky Sport, RTBF, TV2, Peacock, Supersport, SBS, GCN, ESPN, SSC, and JSPORTS.

Stage 5 | LA CABRERA – MIRADOR DE PEÑAS LLANAS. RIAZA | Stage start 11:45CEST | Broadcast 14:00CEST

Stage 6 | CASTRO-URDIALES – LAREDO | 106.1km | Stage start 12:20CEST | Broadcast 14:00CEST

Stage 7 | POLA DE SIERO – LAGOS DE COVADONGA | 93.1km | Stage start 12:40CEST | Broadcast 14:00CEST

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