Riejanne climbs into the front group on a brutal Etumeta and finishes third in a five-way sprint in Zarautz
A wet, punishing opener to the Itzulia Women ended with Riejanne Markus on the podium in Zarautz, pipped only by Mischa Bredewold in the final metres of a sprint she herself had ignited.
The 121km stage was never going to be straightforward, but the race came apart on the Etumeta – 4.5km at 7.5% with 34km to go. Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) picked up the pace to whittle down the peloton, then went solo 500 metres from the summit, leaving Dickson, Kastelijn, and Riejanne to chase. Bredewold fought back on the descent and closed the gap to Niedermaier, creating a group of five at the front who would vie for the victory.
Niedermaier attacked again on the Garate climb and was chased down by Riejanne.Inthe end, it came down to a sprint between the five in front. Riejanne opened it with 300 metres left, but Bredewold came past in the final 100 metres to win, with Kastelijn second and Riejanne holding off Dickson in a photo-finish for third.
Bredewold leads the GC, eight seconds clear of Riejanne, ahead of stage 2 tomorrow.
(Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
In Riejanne’s words…
“Today was super rainy again and a really hard course. On the long climb the pace was very high, and I surprised myself a bit – climbers who normally drop me were struggling, and I felt like I was still in control. We rode away as four and ended up finishing five at the front. I’m just super happy, especially after some unlucky weeks, to be there in that group. I tried to attack in the final but it didn’t come off. Then I tried to surprise them in the sprint by going really early, with about 300 metres to go – but it was just a little bit too long. I’m very happy with third and I’m looking forward to the next two days.”
