Dutchwomen dominates time trial to win stage 1a of Vuelta a Extremadura.
Ellen Van Dijk powered to her first win of the season on the opening 9km time trial in Mérida, Spain. Ellen wasn’t the only Lidl-Trek rider to shine today, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden spent most of the day in the hot seat. It was only as the final few riders crossed the line that Felicity dropped to 4th on the stage. A very impressive ride that bagged her the white best young rider jersey. It didn’t stop there either – Emma Norsgaard crossed the line in 5th, Izzy Sharp in 8th and Ava Holmgren in 9th.
Ellen after her stage 1a victory –
I'm super happy with it. I really love the race here. I'm happy that you guys put a tt in here. The route was difficult for me. It was a lot of corners, a lot of roundabouts so you could never push for a long time. It was very eventful but it was it was nice and challenging, for sure.
Thanks to setting the fastest time on stage 1a, Ellen was in the yellow leaders jersey for the afternoon’s 90km road stage with eyes on Clara Copponi getting up for the sprint. Despite a hard chase from the girls, the breakaway just held off the charging bunch that was led home by Clara. Third place on the stage and confirmation that she brought her sprinting legs this week. Ellen keeps the yellow leaders jersey on her back heading into tomorrow’s second stage.
Ellen following stage 1b –
We were chasing, but we got a different messages from the time gaps. We actually thought we were closer, but in the end we heard we were not so close, so we had to go full gas and we came too late in the end. Today it feels already like we've done a stage race. It's been a long day but great racing. We're all looking forward to tomorrow to defend this jersey.
