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Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx) won the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria one-day race, beating Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) in an uphill sprint after a hard and rain-soaked race. 

The two Dutch stars passed solo attacker Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) on the final climb and stayed together on the run-in to the finish, with Uttrup Ludwig in hot pursuit.

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Before they were able to contest the victory, Van der Breggen and Van Vleuten had to get back to the front after having been caught behind a split in the peloton. 

“Some of my teammates were in the first group and let themselves drop back, and then there were the Canyon-SRAM girls, who worked really hard, and we finally came back. It was really close,” said Van der Breggen.

“Unfortunately, Demi [Vollering] crashed in that last steep climb, that changed the plan a bit for us. Niamh [Fisher-Black] did a really good final. I think we raced really well after we came back, and I am happy to win the sprint against Annemiek,” the world champion finished.

How it unfolded

In the 115.7-kilometre race, 158 riders from 29 teams had to do five laps of a circuit with the gradual climb to Miota, followed by two different ascents of the challenging Goiuria Gaina climb, a fast descent to Durango, and a last uphill kick on the final kilometre.

The peloton stayed together for most of the opening laps as no attack got far before being reeled in. On the fourth lap, Team BikeExchange duo Grace Brown and Ane Santesteban finally got away on a short, twisty downhill right after the feed zone. Although the two riders were caught a few kilometres later, the peloton had also split further back, with Van der Breggen, Van Vleuten, Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and others caught in the second group.

With 40 km to go, the gap between the two groups was over 40 seconds, and after a short breakaway from Marlen Reusser (Alé BTC Ljubljana) and Brown, the two groups settled into a fast chase. Team BikeExchange, FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope, Liv Racing, and Trek-Segafredo drove the first peloton while SD Worx and Canyon-SRAM, in particular, led the chase in the second peloton as the rain started to pour down.

On the first ascent of the Goiuria Gaina climb, Uttrup Ludwig, Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange), and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Liv Racing) emerged as the strongest from the first peloton. Further behind, Niewiadoma, Erica Magnaldi (Ceratizit-WNT), Vollering, Fisher-Black, Van der Breggen, Van Vleuten made their way through the race, passing riders dropped from the first peloton.

Uttrup Ludwig attacked to go solo just before the crest of the climb, extending her gap on the descent. She started the final ascent of Goiuria Gaina with 23 seconds ahead of a group of about 20 riders which Van der Breggen & co. had just bridged to.

On the first steep part, Uttrup Ludwig was struggling while the chasers came closer, and after a short downhill Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen had caught her just at the beginning of another steep pitch of more than ten per cent. Uttrup Ludwig had to leave a gap and let the two Dutchwomen go, as Rooijakkers came up to her from behind.

Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen, however, did not push their advantage, and when Uttrup Ludwig accelerated again to drop Rooijakkers over the top of the climb, the gap was only ten seconds. The Danish climber threw herself into the descent, getting closer and closer as the two frontrunners raced guardedly, neither wanting to make the first move.

Inside 300 metres from the finish, on the final uphill kick, Uttrup Ludwig got back on Van der Breggen’s wheel just before the last corner, but she had nothing left for the sprint. Van der Breggen proved fastest and came around Van Vleuten to take the win.