Vuelta a Burgos Feminas 2021 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE] (ladies)

May 21, 2021

Vuelta a Burgos Feminas 2021 – Stage 2 – Pedrosa de Valdeporres – Villarcayo : 97 km

The Vuelta a Burgos Féminas is a four-day stage race held in the province of Burgos, an area of northern Spain renowned for its undulating terrain, sun-baked landscapes and imposing mountain passes. The race first debuted back in 2015 but until 2018 it was held as a national-level event, meaning it was bypassed by most big-name pros in the peloton. In 2019, however, it was recognised by the UCI and assigned a 2.1 rating. This landmark edition saw riders from all over the world descend on Burgos to compete and, as a result, the race’s popularity boomed. In 2021 it was added to the Women’s WorldTour calendar. The latter was originally due to take place first and kick off two exciting weeks of stage racing in mid-May, but after being cancelled the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas assumed its place as the first WorldTour-ranked stage race of the season. The multi-day event consists of four stages held within the province of Burgos. The 2021 race, however, is aiming to break this predictable cycle by including a brutal summit finish on the final day of racing. This summit finish will take place on the infamous climb to Lagunas de Neila, a climb that is often used on the Queen stage of the men’s race.

Anastasia Chursina (Alé BTC Ljubljana) has won stage 2 of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, taking the biggest victory of her career. The 26-year-old Russian was part of a break of three that got away just after the first classified climb of the day with 69 km to go and built an advantage of more than four minutes.

On the second classified climb cresting 22 km from the finish, Chursina dropped her companions Heidi Franz (Rally Cycling) and Antri Christoforou (Burgos Alimenta Women Cycling Sport), and although Franz returned on the descent, Chursina attacked again with 17.5 km to go and dropped Franz.

The peloton had split into several groups on the climb that merged again on the run-in to the finish, and Alice Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) beat Amalie Dideriksen (Trek-Segafredo) in the sprint for second 1:11 minutes behind. Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) takes over the purple jersey of the race leader from Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange) on stage placing countback.

“It was our plan before the stage to go into the breakaway. I attacked after just 30 kilometres and got those two girls with me. I saw how much time there was between us and the peloton and always tried to push, because it is better to be in front than behind,” Chursina laughed.

“In the final, I just did a TT. I was very motivated for this race, and now I am really happy. We have Mavi García for the general classification, she is from Spain and this is her race. Today was my day, but of course, tomorrow we will support her,” the stage winner finished.

How it unfolded

After an attack by Rachel Langdon (Instafund Racing) early on the 97-kilometre stage was brought back, Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx) won the first mountain sprint on the Alto de Bocos after 27 kilometres, and shortly afterwards the three-rider breakaway formed.

With the peloton uninterested on controlling the gap, Chursina, Franz, and Christoforou could increase their advantage on the undulating terrain, maxing out at 4:10 minutes around the 40km mark. As Chursina was only 1:43 minutes behind in the general classification, the peloton eventually did take up the chase, reducing it to under three minutes at the bottom of the Alto Retuerta.

On the climb, World Champion Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx) took the lead in the peloton and raised the pace. Together with Sabrina Stultiens (Liv Racing) crashing in a corner, this led to splits in the peloton, with a chase group of eight riders forming over the top of the climb.

Further up the road at 1:20 minutes, Chursina had dropped Franz and Christoforou shortly before the mountain sprint. Franz was second over the top of the climb, defending the red mountain jersey that she had been wearing in proxy for overall leader Brown. The US rider managed to return to the front on the descent, but Chursina attacked again to drop Franz.

The chase group behind grew bigger as more and more riders made their way back, but there was no agreement to chase down Chursina, whose advantage grew to almost two minutes again. At 11km from the line, Van der Breggen tried to attack from the group, but Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) shut down this attempt immediately.

Chursina took no risks on the wet roads in the final kilometres to win her first Women’s WorldTour stage; Franz and Christoforou were caught by the peloton that was led home by Barnes and Dideriksen.

Results :
1 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 2:29:28
2 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:01:11
3 Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
4 Arlenis Sierra Canadilla (Cub) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
5 Sandra Alonso Dominguez (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
6 Laura Tomasi (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
7 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
8 Jelena Eric (Srb) Movistar Team Women
9 Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
10 Marie Le Net (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
11 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
12 Marta Lach (Pol) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
13 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Team BikeExchange
14 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-SRAM Racing
15 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
16 Tereza Neumanová (Cze) Women Cycling Sport
17 Tamara Dronova (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
18 Katia Ragusa (Ita) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
19 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
20 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx
21 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
22 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
23 Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita) Liv Racing
24 Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Movistar Team Women
25 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
26 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx
27 Ilaria Sanguineti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
28 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
29 Maaike Coljé (Ned) Massi Tactic Women Team
30 Sarah Roy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
31 Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
32 Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
33 Grace Brown (Aus) Team BikeExchange
34 Sophie Wright (GBr) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
35 Clara Koppenburg (Ger) Rally Cycling
36 Spela Kern (Slo) Massi Tactic Women Team
37 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spa) Team BikeExchange
38 Lara Vieceli (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
39 Caroline Baur (Swi) Instafund Racing
40 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Liv Racing
41 Lucia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
42 Omer Shapira (Isr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
43 Eider Merino Cortazar (Spa) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
44 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
45 Aigul Gareeva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
46 Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
47 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Liv Racing
48 Rachel Langdon (GBr) Instafund Racing
49 Vita Heine (Nor) Massi Tactic Women Team
50 Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally Cycling
51 Yuliia Biriukova (Ukr) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa
52 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women
53 Olivia Baril (Can) Massi Tactic Women Team
54 Kathrin Hammes (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
55 Katrine Aalerud (Nor) Movistar Team Women
56 Laura Asencio (Fra) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
57 Rotem Gafinovitz (Isr) Instafund Racing 0:01:23
58 Andrea Ramírez Fregoso (Mex) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
59 Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzb) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
60 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange
61 Paula Patiño Bedoya (Col) Movistar Team Women
62 Anna Baidak (Rus) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa
63 Federica Piergiovanni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
64 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Liv Racing
65 Elizabeth Holden (GBr) Bizkaia-Durango
66 Anna Shackley (GBr) Team SD Worx
67 Martina Moreno Monteys (Spa) Massi Tactic Women Team
68 Barbara Malcotti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
69 Alessia Vigilia (Ita) Women Cycling Sport
70 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
71 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
72 Victorie Guilman (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
73 Ariadna Gutierrez Arzaluz (Mex) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
74 Isabella Bertold (Can) Instafund Racing
75 Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Team SD Worx
76 Georgia Williams (NZl) Team BikeExchange
77 Gulnaz Khatuntseva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
78 Tayler Wiles (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:30
79 Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling
80 Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
81 Heidi Franz (USA) Rally Cycling
82 Antri Christoforou (Cyp) Women Cycling Sport
83 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:01:47
84 Erica Magnaldi (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team 0:01:11
85 Vera Looser (Nam) Instafund Racing 0:03:37
86 Ariana Gilabert Vilaplana (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
87 Elena Pirrone (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
88 Elynor Backstedt (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
89 Isabel Martin Martin (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
90 Susana Perez Conejero (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte 0:06:22
91 Elisabet Escursell Valero (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
92 Lydia Iglesias Bares (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
93 Nerea Nuño Iglesias (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
94 Alba Leonardo Sanchez (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
95 Nicole Hanselmann (Swi) Women Cycling Sport
96 Lija Laizane (Lat) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa
97 Mireia Benito Pellicer (Spa) Massi Tactic Women Team
98 Lotta Henttala (Fin) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
99 Marta Jaskulska (Pol) Liv Racing
100 Luciana Roland (Arg) Women Cycling Sport
101 Fie Osterby (Den) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte 0:06:26
102 Petra Stiasny (Swi) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team 0:09:45
DNS Ziortza Isasi Cristobal (Spa) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa
DNF Mariia Miliaeva (Rus) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
DNF Nofar Maoz (Isr) Women Cycling Sport

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-SRAM Racing 4:59:07
2 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx
3 Grace Brown (Aus) Team BikeExchange
4 Arlenis Sierra Canadilla (Cub) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team 0:00:05
5 Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
6 Tereza Neumanová (Cze) Women Cycling Sport
7 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
8 Tamara Dronova (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
9 Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita) Liv Racing
10 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
11 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
12 Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
13 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
14 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Liv Racing
15 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
16 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spa) Team BikeExchange
17 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
18 Spela Kern (Slo) Massi Tactic Women Team
19 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx
20 Clara Koppenburg (Ger) Rally Cycling
21 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Liv Racing
22 Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
23 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women
24 Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally Cycling
25 Eider Merino Cortazar (Spa) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
26 Omer Shapira (Isr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
27 Katrine Aalerud (Nor) Movistar Team Women
28 Kathrin Hammes (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
29 Erica Magnaldi (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
30 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:17
31 Anna Baidak (Rus) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa
32 Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzb) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
33 Barbara Malcotti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
34 Anna Shackley (GBr) Team SD Worx
35 Andrea Ramírez Fregoso (Mex) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
36 Federica Piergiovanni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
37 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Liv Racing
38 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
39 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:00:32
40 Vita Heine (Nor) Massi Tactic Women Team 0:01:31
41 Tayler Wiles (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:37
42 Silvia Persico (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:01:43
43 Katia Ragusa (Ita) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
44 Maaike Coljé (Ned) Massi Tactic Women Team
45 Sophie Wright (GBr) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
46 Lucia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
47 Yuliia Biriukova (Ukr) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa
48 Olivia Baril (Can) Massi Tactic Women Team
49 Rotem Gafinovitz (Isr) Instafund Racing 0:01:55
50 Paula Patiño Bedoya (Col) Movistar Team Women
51 Victorie Guilman (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
52 Ariadna Gutierrez Arzaluz (Mex) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
53 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
54 Marta Lach (Pol) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team 0:02:21
55 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
56 Rachel Langdon (GBr) Instafund Racing 0:02:50
57 Aigul Gareeva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team 0:03:43
58 Caroline Baur (Swi) Instafund Racing 0:03:45
59 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:03:47
60 Ilaria Sanguineti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
61 Elizabeth Holden (GBr) Bizkaia-Durango 0:03:59
62 Isabella Bertold (Can) Instafund Racing
63 Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Team SD Worx
64 Antri Christoforou (Cyp) Women Cycling Sport 0:04:06
65 Elena Pirrone (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:04:09
66 Amalie Dideriksen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:10
67 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
68 Marie Le Net (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
69 Laura Tomasi (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
70 Sandra Alonso Dominguez (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
71 Martina Moreno Monteys (Spa) Massi Tactic Women Team 0:05:22
72 Gulnaz Khatuntseva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
73 Georgia Williams (NZl) Team BikeExchange
74 Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:06:52
75 Lara Vieceli (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
76 Heidi Franz (USA) Rally Cycling 0:07:11
77 Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling
78 Vera Looser (Nam) Instafund Racing 0:07:36
79 Ariana Gilabert Vilaplana (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango
80 Isabel Martin Martin (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
81 Lija Laizane (Lat) Eneicat-RBH Global-Martin Villa 0:07:37
82 Alice Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:08:36
83 Jelena Eric (Srb) Movistar Team Women
84 Sarah Roy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
85 Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
86 Laura Asencio (Fra) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
87 Alessia Vigilia (Ita) Women Cycling Sport 0:08:48
88 Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:55
89 Fie Osterby (Den) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte 0:09:00
90 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:09:12
91 Marta Jaskulska (Pol) Liv Racing 0:10:04
92 Petra Stiasny (Swi) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team 0:10:17
93 Susana Perez Conejero (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte 0:10:21
94 Nicole Hanselmann (Swi) Women Cycling Sport
95 Mireia Benito Pellicer (Spa) Massi Tactic Women Team
96 Luciana Roland (Arg) Women Cycling Sport
97 Elynor Backstedt (GBr) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:02
98 Nerea Nuño Iglesias (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte 0:12:03
99 Alba Leonardo Sanchez (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
100 Lydia Iglesias Bares (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango 0:13:47
101 Elisabet Escursell Valero (Spa) Rio Miera-Cantabria Deporte
102 Lotta Henttala (Fin) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team 0:14:07