Vuelta a Burgos Féminas: Demi Vollering wins stage 2 after Lorena Wiebes relegated

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) was awarded the win on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas after her teammate Lorena Wiebes was relegated for a tussle with Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) in the finale.

Wiebes had put in an impressive performance to cross the line first on the punchy finish, but was then demoted to third after elbowing Dygert in the final 500m of the stage. Dygert originally finished third, but was moved up to second with Wiebes now in third place.

A group of only 13 riders battled it out for the win, after being out front for almost the entire day on the wind-affected stage. The group had been nearly 30 riders strong to start, but hard racing from SD Worx and Trek-Segafredo saw plenty of riders dispatched before the finale.

Crosswinds split up the race within the first 10km, and once a strong front group had gone clear in the echelons, they were almost impossible to reel back in.

"It was crazy from the beginning," Wiebes said before the news of her relegation. We had crosswinds or tailwinds almost all the time. So it was a super fast stage, which made it also exciting, and the group went smaller every time there were crosswinds. As a team we did a really great lead out to the final climb."

“In the end it’s not bad at all," Vollering said of being able to keep the win in the team. "But for me, Lorena is the winner of course because she showed again how strong she is and what a special kick she has in the legs. She was really really strong today.”

How it happened

May in Spain should be sunny, but it was a windy and chilly morning as the riders lined up for the start of stage 2 in Sotresgudo. The stage took in 119km to the finish in Lerma, with a kick up to the line in the finale. With crosswinds expected from the gun, it was a nervous start to the day, and most teams warmed up on rollers, ready to race hard from the get go. There’s just one big day of climbing in this year’s Vuelta a Burgos, so there are a lot of teams interested in forcing splits on these flatter stages.

As a result, the speed was high from the start, and as soon as the winds started blowing, chaos ensued. Within 15 minutes of racing, the peloton was already splitting, with a group of 47 riders emerging at the front, pulling out a 30-second gap on the next group by the 15km completed mark. Stage 1 winner Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) and her biggest rival Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) made it into the front group, whilst GC hope Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) found herself on the wrong side of the split. It seemed to be Movistar riding hardest in the echelons, keen to take advantage in a race where they had neither a sprinter nor a top GC contender, but riders from Trek-Segafredo, Canyon-SRAM and SD Worx were all contributing too.

Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Lorena Wiebes and Brodie Chapman leading the way in the first group on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas.

Most of the GC favourites, including Demi Vollering (SD Worx), Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo), Silvia Perscio (UAE Team ADQ) and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep) were present in the front group, and all of them had teammates with them.

With 30km completed, the front group had broken apart even more, now made up of only 27 riders. Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) won the first Queen of the Mountains point, extending her lead in the competition. After the climb, the pace relaxed slowly, and the second group started to claw back a few seconds. With many of the best sprinters and GC riders in the front, and only FDJ leading the chase behind, closing the gap was a hard task, and over the next 30km the gap went out again to over a minute. Heading into the last 50km, the winds let up slightly and the gap came down to 35 seconds, but 20km later it had risen to a minute again.

Going into the last 30km of the stage, the leading group was organised and motivated, riding hard to stay away to the finish. The likes of Balsamo and Wiebes were eyeing up the sprint, whilst Vollering and Moolman Pasio were keen to exploit the situation to make gains on the GC. Early agitators Movistar became some of the biggest losers, with all of their riders dropping out of the lead group before the final 25km. Stage and GC hope Silvia Persico also found herself distanced before the finale. Behind, the chase was waning in the second group, who trailed by two minutes with 20km to go.

Heading towards Lerma, the situation remained stable with the leaders now thinking about the finish and working together for the last 15km. Balsamo and Wiebes both had teammates to support them, but a steep and tight finish was looming. Going into the final few kilometres, it was SD Worx who were leading out, with Demi Vollering drilling it hard into the bottom of the climb up the finish. Vollering’s pace saw a split emerge in the final 800m - she, Wiebes, Balsamo and Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) drew clear of the rest of the group - and after a tussle for position with Dygert, Wiebes was able to launch her sprint and power all the way to the line, conquering the steepest gradients in the final hundred metres. However, after the finish it was deemed that Wiebes’ maneouvre on Dygert was enough to earn her a relegation to third, with the win then awarded to Vollering.

Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Demi Vollering celebrating Lorena Wiebes’ victory, before being promoted to winner on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas.

The second group on the road, which included Uttrup Ludwig and Persico, finished two minutes down on the winner, with several riders losing even more time. The big GC day of climbing is still to come on Sunday, but some riders are possibly already out of contention with today’s time losses.

Despite relegation, Wiebes will retain the leader’s jersey going into stage 3, as well as the sprint jersey and young rider’s jersey. Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) continues to lead the Queen of the Mountains competition, after notching up some more points and bonus seconds on stage 2.

Vuelta a Burgos Féminas stage 2 results:

1. Demi Vollering (SD Worx)
2. Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) s.t.
3. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) s.t
4. Tamara Dronova (Israel Premier Tech Roland) +0:07
5. Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) s.t.
6. Shirin van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo) +0:10
7. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep) +0:12
8. Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) s.t.
9. Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) +0:20
10. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM) +0:26