21-year-old Federica Venturelli (UAE Team ADQ) took victory on her professional debut at the Clásica de Almería, sprinting to the win from a reduced group of six riders at the end of the 118.8km one-day race.

The Italian, who is the reigning under-23 European time trial champion, turned pro with UAE this year after spending two years with the team’s development squad. She beat Arlenis Sierra (Movistar) and Jasmin Liechti (Nexetis) to the line.

A group of around 15 riders had stayed together until the final kilometres of the race, where breakaway survivor Agua Marina Espínola (Abadie Magnan) was finally caught.

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Movistar also had a trio in the group with Sara Martín and Lucía Ruiz Pérez also up there with Sierra. However, Venturelli proved to be the fastest finisher, outpacing the Cuban to score the win.

FirstCycling