Thalita de Jong and Marta Jaskulska sprinted to 7th and 9th place, respectively, at the Vuelta CV Feminas one-day race in Spain.
The 32-year-old recovered from a crash early on to fight back and compete in the finale of the 94.7 km race from Bétera to Valencia, six seconds behind solo winner Liane Lippert (Movistar Team). Climber Yurani Blanco also finished in the front group, having animated the closing stretches with attacks.
“After today’s crash, seventh position isn’t bad at all,” de Jong said afterwards. “The form is really good, so I hope I can recover well and quickly in the upcoming days, and we will see how we go in Setmana.”
De Jong fell early, but displayed great resolve to fight back to a reduced front group on the final climb, Port del Garbí. Working with Blanco and Jaskulska, the trio joined the lead group on the 44 kilometer due-downhill run-in to Valencia.
“A cat passed in front of us, and there was some heavy braking, so I was caught in a crash,” de Jong explains. “I couldn’t then push how I wanted, but I came back. The second climb was steep, so it was hard to push after the fall. We eventually came back together, but there were many attacks. We kept patient, and Marta pushed hard to make it a bigger group for the finale.”
In the subsequent sprint for the remaining podium places, de Jong and Jaskulska positioned themselves well to be involved, with the Pole taking her first top-ten for the team.
“It is special to work with the girls and just always give 100% and collaborate,” Jaskulska said. “I just tried to focus on myself and my rhythm on the final climb to not lose too much time for the front and then come back on the downhill. I already feel confident with the team because the commitment we are creating here is unique, and it’s giving me extra motivation to push,” she ends.
The team are next in action at the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana from February 12 through 15, with today’s test acting as a warm-up for that stage race.
Vuelta CV Feminas results
1 LIPPERT Liane – Movistar Team 2:33:01
2 BOSSUYT Shari – AG Insurance – Soudal Team 0:06
3 FERGUSON Cat – Movistar Team ”
4 GASPARRINI Eleonora Camilla – UAE Team ADQ ”
5 HENDERSON Anna – Lidl – Trek ”
6 ALLIONE Marine – Mayenne Monabana My Pie ”
7 DE JONG Thalita – Human Powered Health ”
8 KNIJNENBURG Anne – VolkerWessels Cycling Team ”
9 JASKULSKA Marta – Human Powered Health ”
10 MARKUS Riejanne – Lidl – Trek ”
14 BLANCO Yurani – Human Powered Health ”
Photos: GettySport
