Ricarda Bauernfeind continued an impressive tour by CANYON//SRAM Generation when she finished second on day two of Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia in Mijas, Spain. Ricarda was narrowly beaten by Arlenis Sierra (MOV) in a sprint from a six-rider group that had formed on the final climb. After her third place yesterday, Ricarda was delighted with today’s race.

“I’m really happy with second place today, especially since it’s my Mum’s birthday!” smiled Ricarda.

A dangerous move went away in the final 15km but teammate Llori Sharpe continued the early work of Agua Marina Espinola Salinas and Valentine Nzayisenga to maintain the gap. When the general classification leader went across to the front group, Ricarda was able to follow.

“I knew that I shouldn’t get nervous, when there was a group of riders ahead, including Mavi Garcia who was second on GC. So, I stayed behind the yellow jersey and tried to follow her attacks. The last kilometre was downhill and there was an attack so we entered quite fast to the last roundabout. The final 500m were quite tricky and on a narrow road so it was hard to pass the winner in the last 150m.”

“Agua did a good job especially in the first part of the race making sure I had enough to drink and also leading the bunch through some tricky roads in the villages. In the final part of the race, especially Llori tried to hold the gap to the small group in front when it was 15km before the finish,” adds Ricarda.

Teammate Valentine said, “It was a great race today, but I know that we need to keep working hard for tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s final stage of Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia is 138.9km from Fuengirola to Castellar de la Frontera and starts at 09:40CEST. Ricarda maintains her third place in the general classification, 15 seconds behind the leader. The final kilometres of stage two were broadcast live here. Follow the tour on Twitter with #VCAEliteWomen.

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