Soraya Paladin from CANYON//SRAM Racing sprinted to fifth place on the opening stage of Vuelta a Burgos today in Spain.

A three-rider breakaway went away early but was caught with still 30km remaining. The race was then set alight as the strong winds and different tactics reduced the peloton to just 60 riders for the final.

“Actually it was quite a boring race because we had a full headwind until 25km to the finish. From there, the race and the fun started. We changed the plan a bit to keep Pauliena (Rooijakkers) protected in the last kilometres. I was the only one who saved energy for the final,” explained Soraya.

“As the race was not that hard, all the ‘true’ sprinters were quite fresh in the finish but I tried to do my best. I was looking for the podium so I’m a bit disappointed with fifth. On the other hand, my teammates did an amazing job for Pauliena and she didn’t lose seconds. This was one of the team’s goals for today and we achieved at least that one.”

HOW TO FOLLOW

The opening stage was won by Lotte Kopecky (SDW) who wears the first leader jersey of the 4-day tour.

Vuelta a Burgos can be followed with #BurgosFem and is broadcast daily at 14:30-16:00CEST on Teledeporte, Cyltv, TV3 Catalunya, ClaroTV, FloSports, GCN+ and Eurosport.

Stage 2 | Friday 20 May | 128km | Sasamón – Aguilar de Campoo | Race start 12:26CEST.

Stage 3 | Saturday 21 May | 113km | Medina de Pomar – Ojo Guarena Complejo Karstico | Race start 12:45CEST.

Stage 4 | Sunday 22 May | 125km | Covarrubias – Lagunas De Neila | Race start 12:45CEST.

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