Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans) claimed victory in the opening stage of the Aviva Women's Tour in Norwich after the breakaway was mopped up in the final kilometre. Majerus took the victory by a clear margin, distancing second placed rider Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv) in the twisting, technical finale. Wiggle-High5’s Giorgia Bronzini edged out her compatriot Marta Bastianelli (Ale-Cipollini) for the final podium spot.
At one point it looked like the expected sprint finale wouldn’t happen when the American Alison Tetrick (Cyclance Pro Cycling) escaped with just over 20 kilometres to go. With indecision in the bunch as to who would take up the chase, Tetrick was allowed to build a substantial lead. A time trial specialist by trade, Tetrick appeared to be using all her skills to hold the pack at bay. As she entered the final 10 kilometres, there was still no serious chase behind and the gap was touching almost two minutes.
Tetrick looked agonisingly close to winning on her debut at the race but the peloton had organised and by the final kilometre her gap was just a couple of hundred metres. The chase was slowed slightly by a big crash in the bunch, which involved many of the big teams including Cervelo-Bigla, Orica-AIS and Boels-Dolmans. The incident only delayed the inevitable, however, and Tetrick was caught.
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While several of her teammates were caught up in the incident behind, Majerus avoided such trouble. She made easy work of the technical finish, her cyclo-cross talents no doubt coming in handy, and pulled out a clear margin on Vos by the line. It is her second stage win at the Aviva Women’s Tour after claiming victory on stage 3 in Kettering last season.
The victory was enough for Majerus to take the leaders jersey by a single second over Vos, who had earned some bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint earlier on. Her victory also cements Boels Dolman’s place as the team to beat in 2016.
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