Women's Tour returns to the East for stage two of the race
The finish line yesterday was in Bury St Edmunds
Frenchwoman Clara Copponi will be hoping to hold on to her winners jersey on stage two of the Women's Tour after crossing the finish line in Bury St Edmunds first yesterday.
It was the first victory of her road racing careers as she sprinted to victory.
The FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope rider pipped Italian duo Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) and Elena Cecchini (Team SD Worx) to the line in a reduced bunch sprint after a final-kilometre crash removed pre-stage favourite Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) from contention.
Copponi, a reigning world champion on the track, claimed the first yellow leader’s jersey of this year’s race as a result of her victory.
Having finished third overall in last year’s Women’s Tour, she also leads the Breast Cancer Now points classification going into stage two.
“Today I feel good, confident. I am excited for the rest of the week. I love England!” said Copponi afterwards, saying to defending her lead in stage two she would need to “Win the sprint, again, I will do my best and we will see day by day
“I did my best and I’m so happy. I’m so excited, it’s a great day, it’s my first victory.”
Finishing fourth was Canyon//SRAM Racing rider Alice Barnes, who takes the honour of Best British Rider, an award she won overall in 2021, after the opening day.
"My teammates tried to help me and we had aimed to be patient,” said Barnes, “But I was blocked to get to them, so I made the choice to go alone in the final.
"I was able to find my way close to the front before the roundabout but I have to admit we'd already been slipping a lot all day on the wet roads and that didn't give me a lot of confidence.
"The riders ahead of me took the left-hand corner too hot and crashed. I was able to find my way through and did my best in the final 100m."
Christine Majerus (Team SDWorx) leads the ŠKODA Queen of the Mountains category having won both the contests in Suffolk at Brantham and Bildeston, while British team Le Col – Wahoo take the Pillar Sprints jersey with Maike van der Duin, who won both intermediate contests during the stage.
Stage Two
Day two will see riders setting off from Harlow Innovation Park at 11am, before completing a 57.3 mile ride to finish on Third Avenue, back in Harlow.
The route will take riders north east through Hatfield Heath to Great Dunmow for the opening intermediate sprint of the stage, and on through Felsted, High Easter (location of the second intermediate sprint), and Roxwell.
The event coincides with the town's 75th birthday, and is part of celebrations for the occasion.