Super Alé BTC Ljubljana in the second stage of the Tour de l’Ardeche with a great team effort and a superlative Mavi Garcia who takes the second consecutive victory in 24 hours. Today was the most difficult day, starting from Saint-Georges-les-Bains and finishing in Font d’Urle after 135.6 km and 3,700 metres of altitude difference. The girls of General Manager Alessia Piccolo’s team didn’t get scared, on the contrary, they were able to be protagonists in all phases of the race and then, thanks again to the champion of Spain, they hit the big target.
“Mavi Garzcia, Ery Yonamine, Ursa Pintar, Urska Zigart, Urska Bravec, Maaike Boogaard. They all deserve a big round of applause because each one of them was able to play their role in the best possible way today, making a fundamental contribution to the victory”, the words of sports director Giuseppe Lanzoni.
The first part of the race was characterised by a breakaway of eleven riders, in which the Japanese Yonamine entered. The latter then punctured and then the #Yellofluorange girls raised the pace in the group to keep the escape under control. A group of 17 riders remained in front of the race, four of whom were Alé representatives: Mavi Garcia, Yonamine, Pintar and Zigart. The Slovenian Urska Zigart launched the solo attack and managed to gain up to 1:40. She was picked up by the best group with 8 kilometres to go.
At this point Mavi Garcia came into action and, with four kilometres to go, went on the attack. On the climb only the Austrian national team rider Anna Kiesenhofer managed to keep up with the rhythm of the Spanish. The two arrived together at the finish line and the rider of the Alé BTC Ljubljana didn’t leave any chance to her opponent in the sprint.
Sixth place, at 6’01, for Urska Zigart, tenth for Eri Yonamine, at 8’45”, and 14th for Ursa Pintar, at 9’31”.
Mavi Garcia also remains leader of the general classification of the French stage race. Eri Yonamine was awarded with the red jersey of most aggressive rider.