CANYON//SRAM Racing had Sarah Roy in the day’s main breakaway on the queen stage of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. With a group of three going clear in the first kilometres of the stage, Sarah bridged across to the group with another rider to create a group of five. Only Sarah and Lucinda Brand (TFS) could sustain a high pace on the first climb after 18km as they tried to build a gap from the peloton.

The pair stayed away until the final 30km of the race as the leaders hit the final two climbs. The attack of eventual stage winner Annemiek van Vleuten (MOV) splintered the field with only small groups coming together behind. Kasia and Elise Chabbey eventually formed a second chase group with nine riders. Kasia sprinted to sixth place, and Elise just behind in eighth. Sarah won the Most Combative jersey for her strong breakaway ride on the hilly stage.

“This stage was one of the most GC-decisive days of the whole tour,” said Kasia.

“I’m feeling gutted for my performance as I was hoping for much more. I felt a little bit off. Not from fatigue, but just not my day to be able to give it my best.”

“I was happy to see Roy up the road, which created opportunities for the team later in the race. My teammates Elise and Pauliena climbed strongly and were present in the final climbs but overall, we didn’t get the stage or GC result we aimed for. The race is not finished, and though GC victory is far from our reach, we will still try to go for stage victories or create opportunities in breakaways,” added Kasia.

After the second stage, Elise is 10th and Kasia 11th, both at +3:34 behind leader van Vleuten. 

HOW TO FOLLOW

The tour can be followed on Twitter with #CeratizitChallenge22. A live broadcast is available on RTVE, TV3 Catalunya, CRTVG, EiTB, TV2, NBCUniversal, SuperSport, Zhibo.tv, GCN, NOS, FloBikes, SBS, Sky Sport, Eurosport Asia, ESPN, Eurosport, DKTV2, Sports, RTVC Señal

Stage 3 | 9 September | Camargo – Aguilar de Campoo | 96.4km | Race start 16:34 | Broadcast 18:20CEST.

Stage 4 | 10 September | Palencia – Segovia | 160km | Race start 14:37 | Broadcast 18:20CEST.

Stage 5 | 10 September | Madrid | 95.6km | Race start 12:00 | Broadcast 13:30CEST.

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