Vuelta a Burgos Feminas: Lorena Wiebes triumphant again in another bunch sprint on stage 2

The breakaway trio race away from the peloton on stage 2 (Image credit: Getty Images)

The 122km stage started in Castrojeriz and celebrated the Ribera del Duero region’s wine heritage, finishing at the Bodega Viña Pedrosa vineyard on the outskirts of Pedrosa de Duero.

Although there were no classified climbs on the stage, this didn’t stop riders from trying to form a break. Nobody was successful in the first 30km, but then Elena De Laurentiis (Vini Fantini-BePink), Marta Pavesi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), and Stine Marie Snortheim (Hitec Products-Fluid Control) got away. Pavesi had been part of one of the earlier attempts as well, and she was awarded the combativity prize for her multiple efforts.

Their advantage grew to almost three minutes with 70km to go, but SD Worx-Protime kept the race under control and brought the gap down to around a minute at the 40km mark. The three escapees just made it to the intermediate sprint in Roa de Duero but were caught soon afterwards.

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On the uphill finishing straight with one 19km lap to go, Aniek van Alphen (Fenix-Premier Tech) attacked, leading to a front group of 15 riders. When they were reeled in again after just over a kilometre, Martín went solo.

The peloton races through the vineyards during the stage (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Spanish champion, living less than 30km east in Aranda de Duero, got a decent gap on her home roads, but the race did not settle down. Casasola attacked from the peloton and bridged across to Martín 15km from the finish.

However, a chase group of 11 riders led by Amber Kraak (FDJ United-Suez) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) soon closed the gap, with the peloton not much further behind.

11.5km from the finish, Xaydée Van Sinaey (Fenix-Premier Tech) launched another move. This move grew to 13 riders, but when Morven Yeoman (DAS-Hutchinson) tried to bridge across, she inadvertently closed the gap for the peloton.

On the final kilometres, SD Worx-Protime came to the front in strength to discourage any further attacks, and then the sprint trains started to organise themselves. With 4.7km to go, Clara Emond (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93) went into a corner in second position and crashed, holding up a large part of the peloton and leading to splits in the race.

Most of the riders did get back to the front on the run-in to the finish, and more than 70 riders entered the final kilometre together. Wiebes was led out by Guarischi and Bredewold, with Wollaston and Megan Jastrab (UAE Team ADQ) trying to disrupt the SD Worx-Protime train.

250 metres from the line, Wollaston launched her sprint off Wiebes’ wheel, with Balsamo reacting almost immediately. But as they went left around Bredewold, Wiebes launched on the right side, quickly got up to speed, and beat Balsamo by almost two bike lengths.