Agua Marina Espinola Salinas jumped up four places in the general classification today when she finished twelfth on the second stage of Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia Ruta del Sol. The summit finish was won by Tamara Dronova (CGS) to retain the leader’s jersey.

The 95km stage finished with a 15 km-long climb and steep finish to Cómpeta.

Agua Marina said, “The stage was quite hot, and the terrain was demanding. We rode the first climb at a steady pace, but as it came really early in the stage, some riders struggled. We expected they would come back after the descent, which was the case.”

“Many teams attacked, and a small group was able to go away, but they were kept at a small gap, and the peloton slowly caught them on the final climb. I was feeling quite good, but after so many attacks, I was getting tired. I dropped from the first group after the final attack, but I kept my pace, and I caught on to the back of the group just before the finish line.”

“I’m really happy to progress in the GC. It was my goal for this stage. But I have bigger ambitions, and we still have three stages to go!”

Llori Sharpe said, “Today’s stage was for sure challenging when it came to the two categorized climbs in particular. The first came a lot sooner as the race was shortened a bit, but the approach remained the same; give it my all, stay with the group, and use the long descent that followed to recover. There were a few attacks early on, but none of them stuck, and the race was pretty controlled up until the flattest section, where a group of 8-9 riders went clear and got a gap of about 30 seconds.”

“Then came the second categorized climb that was super long. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay with the leading group and fell behind, but luckily, I found myself in another group, and we rode the remaining kilometres together. Overall, I’m satisfied with my performance and super happy for Agua, who rode amazingly well yet again. Dani also rode brilliantly, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s stage and all that it’ll bring.”

HOW TO FOLLOW

Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia Ruta del Sol can be followed on Twitter with #VCAwomen. A live race centre with race updates can be found here.

Stage 3 | Nerja – Álora | 138.9km | Stage start 11:05CEST

Stage 4 | Pizarra – Mijas | 90.9km | Stage start 12:50CEST

Stage 5 | Valle Romano Golf & Resort – Castellar de la Frontera | 93.9km | Stage start 12:30CEST

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