A day after being relegated from first to third, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) came back with another sprint victory. The Dutch sprinter had all her teammates work hard to reel in a breakaway on the final kilometres, but the escapees were still 12 seconds ahead coming onto the uphill finishing straight.
Wiebes opened her sprint early and came past on the final metres to win the stage ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) and Sheyla Gutiérrez (Movistar), the best-placed rider from the breakaway.
"The team worked really hard for it today," Wiebes said after the stage. "I was in the wheel of Demi in the last kilometre and I had the feeling of the breakaway is going to get it. But then in the final straight, I saw them slowing down a bit and Demi went full gas.
"In the spring Classics Trek was also really strong and I think it's mostly a battle between Trek and us. We worked really hard for this all winter, and for me after yesterday it was extra motivation to win this one."
With the bonus seconds for the stage winner, Wiebes added ten seconds to her GC lead. She is now 14 seconds ahead of Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) and Vollering but confirmed that the team would only have one leader on the final stage, a mountaintop finish at the Lagunas de Neila.
“I go all-in for Demi, it’s time to do some work for the team,” Wiebes promised.
How it unfolded
The 112.7km stage from Caleruega to Aranda de Duero had no classified climbs, and the wind was less strong than on the previous days. No break succeeded in getting away until the last 40km.
Morgane Coston (Cofidis) went on a solo escape, building a half-minute gap, and seven riders bridged to the Frenchwoman 26 km from the finish.
They were Sheyla Gutiérrez (Movistar Team), Karolina Kumięga (UAE Team ADQ), Kathrin Hammes (EF Education-Tibco-SVB), Jessenia Meneses (Colombia Pacto por el Deporte-GW Shimano), Sofía Rodríguez (Bizkaia Durango), Debora Silvestri (Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi), and Maria Paula Latriglia (Eneicat-CMTeam-Seguros Deportivos).
The peloton did not start the chase right away, and this break of eight managed to increase their advantage to over a minute at the 10km mark. SD Worx put all of its riders except Wiebes herself to work as they saw the opportunity for another stage win slip away. Jayco-AlUla, Liv Racing TeqFind and AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep also contributed a rider to the chase.
The gap went down steadily, but the breakaway still held 15 seconds going into the final kilometre. Kumięga motioned for her companions to share in the work but was left on her own, leading out the uphill sprint. In the peloton behind, Wiebes jumped at 250 metres to go, with Balsamo on her wheel.
As Gutiérrez passed Kumięga with 100 metres to go, Wiebes was coming up fast from behind, flying past the breakaway to take her second stage win.
Results
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