Elisa Balsamo made it two wins in two day at Setmana Ciclista - Volta Comunitat Valenciana Fèmines after another perfect day for Trek-Segafredo.
Three categorized climbs in the first half of the stage had the potential to tip the status quo away from a bunch sprint but once again Trek-Segafredo was a team with a plan.
The former world champion showed no signs of faltering as the race headed onto the steeper gradients, consistently sitting in the first part of the peloton and remaining with the best climbers in the race even when accelerations split the field.
Inside the final 20 kilometers of the 116-kilometer stage, Balsamo was sitting in a reduced peloton with Amanda Spratt, Gaia Realini and, crucially, her ultimate sprint wingwoman, Ilaria Sanguineti.
The Italian double act once again worked together perfectly with Sanguineti delivering Balsamo where she wanted to be to power towards another emphatic stage win in Spain.
Reaction from Elisa Balsamo:
"It wasn’t easy, a lot of climbs at the beginning but at the end Ilaria again did a great job so I had a perfect lead-out. The sprint is never easy but, yes it was a good one so we are very satisfied. I was third at the last roundabout which was the perfect position to be in for the sprint. Tomorrow will be the queen stage for our two climbers, we’ve got very strong climbers in our team here so for sure they will have a lot of fun. For me, not a lot but I will survive.
"It’s like a dream for me [to have Yaya back] because we were working together for a lot of years and for me she is really the best at this job. Last year when I spoke to Ina [Teutenberg, DS] about the lead-out and I mentioned Ilaria’s name and she was also super happy to have her in the team. Today was different than yesterday because Ilaria delivered me at 1km to go onto the wheel of UAE. I was struggling on the climbs but I did it!"
