In an impressive performance that showcased her as every bit the experienced professional, 18-year-old Joëlle Messemer claimed CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation’s first victory of the season in their opening race.

Immediately after crossing the finish line, Joëlle reflected on a conversation that she’d had with fellow German teammate Jule Märkl earlier in the race.

“I was feeling super good and super strong in the climbs, and I said to Jule that I would win today.”

The victory crowned a fantastic performance for the Generation team at the Gran Premio Igartza, the third round of Spain’s national road cycling series, the Copa España Feminas Cofidis. Leading up to Joëlle’s win, the team rode as a dominant force, with Emily Dixon also claiming the Queen of the Mountains Classification.

Right at the start of the 70 kilometre outing around Beasain, the vibrant coral and pink hues of the team’s kit and Canyon bikes were visible at the front of the 143 rider peloton, the team making their intentions clear.

Joëlle explains that the pace was on from start to finish, with the first ascent of the Lierni climb (1.1 km at 8.3%) coming just over 5km into the race.

“Everyone was pushing already here because of the climb and the mountains classification on top. Over the whole race, the tempo was very high, especially on the climbs, because there were QOM points on every ascent.”

Emily, the latest Zwift Academy winner and the newest member of the team, was a key instigator at each QOM, leading over the first summit at the 7km mark to secure the day’s opening points. Her performance was all the more impressive, considering she only arrived from Australia two nights ago.

After successfully navigating the tricky, winding descent that followed, Emily found herself off the front alongside her nearest rival in the battle for those initial QOM points.

Although it was the very first climb on lap one of three, the peloton was left in tatters, reforming after the descent but with a significantly reduced size of no more than 40 riders.

On the second climb of the lap, the Olaberria (1.8km at 7.2%), the peloton splintered again as the pacesetters closed in on Emily. All the while, the tall, willowy figure of Joëlle looked especially formidable whenever the road went up.

Although Emily was caught by the stretched group that included Joëlle, Maddie le Roux, Selam Amha Gerefiel, and Jule, it was déjà vu for Emily as she once again found herself in a two-rider attack after making another move for more mountains points. She was eventually caught for good with 36 kilometres remaining, but not before taking an unassailable lead in the mountains classification.

As the final lap began, Selam tried an attack before shifting her focus to patrolling the peloton alongside Jule, setting the rest of the team up for the crucial phases ahead.

Gosia Jasinska, in her first race as sports director for CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation, praised the team’s tactical execution.

“The team was very good with positioning and cooperation – they always controlled all attacks. It was our tactic in the last lap to support Joëlle when we saw she was the strongest, along with Emily. In the last lap, Emily had technical problems and had to stop, but Joëlle followed the best climbers and then attacked on the descent because she is very good in the downhill.”

Joëlle describes how the plan came together:

“In the descent, I saw that the others were braking a lot, so I went and just one girl could follow me. From there, it was 15km to the finish, and we rode together. Even though on the final climb, she attacked me a lot. I knew that if I stayed on her wheel up the climb, I would win in the sprint.”

With a tricky finish set on a unique surface of tiled bike path, and a technical 180 degree bend just 150 meters from the line, Joëlle was instructed by Gosia to be in first position heading into the finishing straight. Joëlle jumped out from behind her opponent with 300 metres remaining, flying around the last 180-degree turn as if on rails, and held off her opponent, Eukene Larrate of Massi Baix-Ter, who was unable to escape the slipstream.

Gosia commented, “Joëlle is fast in the sprint too, so with that, she is a very complete rider. The other rider was also very strong, as she was in both breaks with Emily and then Joëlle.”

To give the last word to Joëlle: “It was a great team effort, and I’m happy to start my Generation season like this – VERY happy about it!”

Next weekend, the Generation squad will continue their Copa de España Carretera Féminas campaign with back-to-back rounds on Saturday and Sunday – Comarca Brigantina and Gran Premio Cidade de Pontevedra.

Live coverage of the final 60km from each race will be streamed on SportPublic TV’s YouTube channel, with highlights and replays also available. Keep up-to-date with the action using #CopaEspañaFemCofidis, and on the CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto social channels.