Lepistö wins Crescent Vargada road race
Lotta Lepistö went one better than last year, winning Crescent Vargada on Sunday. The victory is her sixth of the season, her third in the Women’s WorldTour.

The race ended in a sprint finish with a reduced peloton contesting the win. Lepistö says she learnt from finishing second last year that positioning was important and timed her sprint to perfection.

Lisa Klein represented the team in an early 11-rider breakaway. The attack was given a two-minute advantage until the chase started in earnest from behind.

“We had the perfect tactic today with Lisa in the breakaway,” Lepistö said. “I knew she would be the fastest in that breakaway if it stayed until the end. When it came back we knew there was a chance of another breakaway so we prepared for that. The girls covered every single move and I didn’t have much to do, I could just rest for the final. It’s amazing how good the team is right now.”

As the race approached the final moments, Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling Team was well represented in the reduced peloton and worked hard to keep things together for Lepistö.

“In the last 10km I focussed on keeping everything together until the finish to repay the team for their work. Marianne [Vos] started the sprint and I was on her wheel and forced my way through. I was second here last year so I wanted to make sure I did better. Last year I was very tired from being in the breakaway when we came into the sprint. Today I had good positioning and timed it well. The team is in amazing form and everyone was incredible.”

“I’m very happy with the season. I have six victories and I got all the victories that are important to me. I’m just really happy,” the Finnish champion concluded.

Today’s result comes after the team finished second in the team time trial event of the same name on Friday. After this successful weekend of racing in Sweden, the team will next line up in the Tour of Norway starting Friday.