CANYON//SRAM Generation finished the four-day tour, Premondiale Giro Toscana Internazionale Femminile in Italy with a strong final day. Agua Marina Espinola Salinas attacked solo in the second half of the 127km stage in her bid to win the stage. Caught only in the final kilometres only by the three GC podium riders, Agua Marina sprinted to fourth place, her best result in a European UCI race.

“I was disappointed with my race on Saturday’s stage three as I lost sixth place on GC. I spent a lot of energy fighting for a good position, and when we arrived at the main climb of the day, I had no power left, and I felt empty,” said Agua Marina.

“I took the next day as a new opportunity. I had a lot of support from our DS (Adam Szabó) and my coach. Having people around that believe in you gives a lot of encouragement. We discussed when could be some good moments, and I looked for my opportunity to attack and went for it.”

Agua Marina built a lead of over 1:30 before being caught by three riders less than 4km to the finish. She came across the line in fourth place to finish the tour at 20th overall and second in the mountain classification.

“I felt a mix of feeling crossing the line. I thought I could win the stage, and I wanted to so badly. So, one part is disappointing, and the other side, I’m proud of my effort racing to win the stage, and I’m excited about the next race,” said Agua Marina.

Teammate Antonia Niedermaier recovered from a crash during the tour to finish 17th overall and 5th in the youth classification. Valentine Nzayisenga had her best race on stage three but was one of 25 riders pulled from the circuit after being dropped from the main peloton in yesterday’s final stage.

CANYON//SRAM Generation will have its final season race at Tour de l’Ardéche starting 6 September.

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