Elise Chabbey sprinted to fifth place on the final stage of Itzulia Women, securing fifth place in the general classification.

After an action-packed start to the 115 km stage, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka worked hard to be in the main breakaway. Twelve riders established a gap of over two minutes on the peloton but was reduced to just 40 seconds as the steep slopes of the main 4km-long climb of the day approached. Eventual stage and GC winner, Demi Vollering made her move before the summit. Behind, Elise Chabbey fought to stay in contact with the next group but was in the third group after the the climb and descent had finished. When teammate Ricarda Bauernfeind rejoined, she worked to close the gap to the chasers and bring Elise back into contention for the GC podium. Relying only on bonus seconds on the finish line, Elise finished fourth in the sprint, fifth on the stage. She was fifth overall, at +56 seconds from the winner.

RIDER REACTIONS:

Elise Chabbey: “Today was a hard day for me, I could feel it directly from the start of the stage. My teammates supported me a lot. Aga was in the break and Justyna was great helping me to position. I exploded a bit on the last climb trying to follow and then mentally was hard. Ricarda came back to my group after a puncture and was amazing to help bring our group back to the first chase group.

I’m super disappointed to miss the podium as I feel like it was possible. It’s not often I have the chance to fight for a podium so I will need some time to digest the disappointment. I will have some positive things to remember from this race and to use going forward.”

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