Tour of Chongming Island stage 3: Chiara Consonni wins final stage to secure overall title

Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) claimed the overall victory at the Tour of Chongming Island after winning the bunch sprint on the final stage of the race.

The Italian mopped up bonus seconds at intermediate sprints throughout the day before guaranteeing the overall win by triumphing in the sprint to the line.

Capitalising on a strong lead out from her UAE Team ADQ teammates, Consonni launched her sprint early leading to a drag race to the line, but Daria Pikulik (Human Powered Health) was unable to surpass the Italian in the closing metres as she had to settle for second. Martina Fidanza (Ceratizit-WNT) finished on the podium for the second day in a row in third.

It’s Consonni’s first ever overall victory at a stage race and only her fifth win at WorldTour level.

Like the previous two stages, the final day served up a pan-flat route that was expected to end in a bunch sprint. As the time gaps between the leaders were only small, there was also a general classification victory up for grabs with multiple riders in contention.

One of those riders was Consonni who was only two seconds behind overall leader Hanna Tserakh (Li Ning Star Ladies) at the start of the day. The Italian rider’s team didn’t allow a breakaway to escape which allowed her to take bonus seconds in the first two intermediate sprints, enough to propel her into a one-second lead in the virtual standings.

Consonni was soon bumped back down to second in the virtual standings, though, as Mylène de Zoete (Ceratizit-WNT) won the final intermediate sprint of the day. That set up a tense finale as only one second separated the pair with more bonus seconds available on the finish line.

Seizing the initiative, UAE Team ADQ led out the sprint in the final kilometre before Consonni launched her kick early, leading to a long drag race to the line. Tserakh briefly pulled up alongside the Italian but was unable to pass, while Pukilik was boxed in along the barriers and had to settle for second as the Italian held on to win the stage and the overall race.