Time trial specialist Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) powered to victory on stage 1a of the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina, finishing the 9km TT in 11:20 to take her first win of the year, and the race's leader's jersey.
Uno-X Mobility riders Mie Bjørndal Ottestad and Katrine Aalerud finished second and third respectively in Mérida, 10 and 22 seconds adrift of Van Dijk who started as the clear favourite for the stage.
The flat TT kicked off the first half of a split day, with a 90km road stage 1b to take place this afternoon.
Van Dijk's teammate Felicity Wilson-Haffenden was in the hot seat for a long time, but was knocked off the top spot as the big WorldTour riders started coming down the ramp.
A former TT world champion, and winner of the time trial here last year, Van Dijk was the out-and-out expected winner and duly delivered to give Lidl-Trek their fourth win of 2025. She will wear the leader's jersey for stage 1b.
"I'm super happy with it. I really love to race here and I'm super happy that you guys put a time trial in here," she said at the finish.
"For me it's also special, my coach Josu Larrazabal lives in Madrid, so he's also here and we could do the time trial together, so that makes it extra special."
Wilson-Haffenden held onto fourth place at the conclusion of the race, with Lidl-Trek taking three of the top five spots as new signing Emma Norsgaard finished fifth.
Highly touted neo-pro Viktória Chladonová made her debut for Visma-Lease a Bike on Thursday and finished seventh on the stage, 38 seconds down on Van Dijk.
Stage 1b offers up 90km of racing with a category 3 climb in the middle of the stage, and a drag up to the line in Mérida.
Results
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