Arlenis Sierra is second in the first stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
The seasonal debut in Europe immediately brought a podium result to Astana Women’s Team: in the first stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, it came a second place by Arlenis Sierra, who confirms the very good shape she already showed during the Australian races.
The route of the first stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana was 103 kilometres long between the cities of Gandia and Cullera. The riders of Astana Women’s Team always managed to stay in front positions of the peloton and Katia Ragusa won the only Queen of the Mountain pass of the day wearing the polka dot jersey of best climber at the end of the stage.
With less than 5 kilometres to go, a crash on a downhill created gaps in the bunch and just 13 riders remained in the first group: among them, three were representatives of Astana Women’s Team. In the final kilometres Yareli Salazar and Katia Ragusa tried to launch the sprint of Arlenis Sierra who crossed the finish line in second place narrowly behind the Danish sprint Norsgaard. The Setmana Ciclista Valenciana will continue on day 2 with the queen stage, 126 km with four climbs.