Ellen van Dijk powered to victory in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Extremadura Féminas, winning the 9km time trial in Mérida with a dominant display. The Dutchwoman clocked 11:20, securing her first win of the season and taking the leader’s jersey into the afternoon’s road stage.
Lidl-Trek teammate Felicity Wilson-Haffenden set the early benchmark and spent most of the morning in the hot seat before finishing fourth, securing the white jersey for best young rider. Mie Ottestad and Katrine Aalerud completed the podium, finishing 10 and 22 seconds behind Van Dijk, respectively.
Other strong performances from Lidl-Trek saw Emma Norsgaard place fifth, Izzy Sharp eighth, and Ava Holmgren ninth, reinforcing the team’s depth in the discipline.
Van Dijk: “A lot of corners, a lot of roundabouts”
“I’m super happy with it. I really love the race here. I’m happy that you guys put a TT in here,” said Van Dijk after her win. “The route was difficult for me. It was a lot of corners, a lot of roundabouts so you could never push for a long time. It was very eventful but it was nice and challenging, for sure.”
With the fastest time in the opening stage, Van Dijk took control of the general classification heading into the 90km afternoon road stage to Cáceres, where Lidl-Trek were looking to set up Clara Copponi for the sprint finish.
2025 Vuelta Extremadura Stage 1 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Photo Credit: Sprint Cycling AgencyMarturano edges out Haugset as breakaway succeeds
The afternoon’s second stage saw a two-rider breakaway hold off the chasing peloton, with Greta Marturano outsprinting Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset to take the win in Cáceres.
Lidl-Trek, Visma | Lease a Bike and other teams worked to bring the race back together, but inconsistent time gap information meant the peloton misjudged the chase. The duo reached the finish with a 25-second advantage, with Copponi leading the bunch home in third.
Van Dijk: “We thought we were closer”
“We were chasing, but we got different messages from the time gaps. We actually thought we were closer, but in the end, we heard we were not so close, so we had to go full gas, and we came too late in the end,” Van Dijk explained. “Today it feels already like we’ve done a stage race. It’s been a long day but great racing. We’re all looking forward to tomorrow to defend this jersey.”
Despite the time loss, Van Dijk retains the yellow jersey, while Wilson-Haffenden remains in white. UAE Team ADQ enjoyed a strong day, with Marturano taking her first professional victory and Maeva Squiban winning both the intermediate sprint and mountain classifications.
The race continues on Friday with a 109.2km stage from Quintana de la Serena to Valdefuentes, featuring the category-two Alto del Robledo as a key test before the finish.
2025 Vuelta Extremadura Stage 2 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
