In a thrilling conclusion to the second stage of the Bretagne Ladies Tour, French cyclist Valentine Fortin, representing Cofidis, emerged victorious. In a disrupted sprint finish, she overpowered Marta Lach and Martina Alzini to secure the win. Despite her second-place finish, Lach retains her position at the top of the overall standings.
Yesterday’s inaugural stage of the Bretagne Ladies Tour saw a victory for Polish cyclist Marta Lach. Carrying a lead of thirteen seconds into the second stage, the riders embarked on a 124.3-kilometre journey from Plémet to Saint-Méen-le-Grand. The majority of this route was characterised by predominantly flat roads.
In contrast, the local circuit featured several short uphill sections, with attacks each time the race approached the finish line. The final kilometre posed a typical uphill finish, favouring the stronger sprinters in the group. As anticipated, the stage culminated in a sprint in western France.
However, this sprint was thrown into chaos by a major crash with 2.5km left to race. This incident resulted in a select group, with a significant Cofidis presence, plus multiple riders from Arkea and Ceratizit WNT up there battling it out for the stage win. Fortin convincingly sprinted to victory, defeating overall leader Lach in the process. Adding to Cofidis’ success, team-mate Martina Alzini completed the podium in third place. Despite finishing second in this stage, Lach’s overall lead in the tour remains unchallenged.
Because the crash was in the final 3 kilometres, the race jury neutralised the time gaps, so riders affected in the crash haven’t lost time on the general classification today ahead of tomorrow’s time trial stage.
2023 Bretagne Ladies Tour Stage 2 result
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