Simone Boilard (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) distinguished herself during the second stage of the Tour of Spain disputed on Tuesday, between Orihuela and Pilar de la Horodada, by competing for victory in the final sprint. The Quebecer finally took 13th place after a busy day, under the strong rays of the sun.
After seeing her French teammate Coralie Demay find herself in the breakaway at the very start of the day, the Quebecer took action to settle comfortably in the peloton for the last kilometers of the race.
“It’s always part of our objectives to have a girl on the team who stands out, who is in the breakaway of the day. Coralie may have left a little early and that’s why she didn’t push too hard to stay there, but it’s nice to see someone from the team leading at the start of the race.” , rejoiced Boilard, in an interview with Sportcom.
Alone of her team at the front of the group, Boilard did her best to position herself in the best possible way for the sprint where she held off several favorites including the Dutch Annemiek Van Vleuten, even after applying the brakes to avoid collisions.
“It’s not a bad day, it was quite nervous on the roads and everyone was keen to be part of the show. The final was very chaotic for me, I was well placed, but I had to brake at the wrong time and I lost several positions. I’m happy with the day in general,” explained Boilard.
At the very end of the race, the American Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SLAM Racing) was the first to sprint in an attempt to claim victory. However, she was caught in the last meters by the Dutch Charlotte Kool (DSM) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma).
Kool finally won just ahead of Vos, who, as a consolation, climbed to first place in the provisional general classification. For her part, Dygert, world champion in the time trial in 2019 finished third, she who is on her first outing of the season after a serious knee injury suffered in 2020 and an operation to eliminate her tachycardia. last fall.
Olivia Baril (UAE ADQ) finished in 45th place, also in the lead pack. After a major pile-up with 37 kilometers to go, Baril worked hard to help her teammates Silvia Persico and Karolina Kumiega get back into the lead.
“It was really a shame because we had a great day until this fall. Silvia and Karolina had big ambitions for this stage, but that’s part of the sport. We managed to limit the damage afterwards,” mentioned the athlete from Rouyn-Noranda.
Also physically involved in this fall, Magdeleine Vallières-Mill (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) finally crossed the finish line in 105th place, along with several teammates.
“Veronica Ewers fell in that big crash, I braked in time to keep from falling, but I stayed with her to help her back up as she was our leader today [Tuesday]. She had problems with the bike afterwards, her front wheel was rubbing a lot, so it was not easy,” said Vallières-Mill.
Finally, Adèle Normand (Massi-Tactic) ranked 92nd.
The Tour of Spain will continue on Wednesday with the presentation of the third stage, on the flat, between Elche de la Sierra and La Roda.