Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s Giorgia Bronzini took her second straight third place finish in the 2015 Tour of Chongming Island on the second stage of the three-day race in Chongxi. Dutch powerhouse Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products) won the stage in a bunch sprint, as she had done the day before, with Roxane Fournier just beating Bronzini to second place this time.
“The girls did an amazing job again today to put me in the best position,” Bronzini explained. “For the sprint the girls tried to lead out me but in the end I was again in Wild’s wheel. I tried to come out and get past her but it was really hard!”
Once again, the flat, straight roads of Chongming Island offered few opportunities for riders to escape the peloton, but four riders managed to get clear midway through the 113.7km stage. With so many teams riding for their sprinters, however, the small group stood little chance of staying away to the finish, and the peloton approached the wide finishing straight all together again.
“The race today was like yesterday, with not much happening,” said Bronzini. “At the first intermediate sprint I wasn’t in the first three, but there was massive chaos and big risk of crashing. The second one was taken by the breakaway, so I could wait for the finish.”
Although Bronzini missed out at the intermediate sprints, time bonuses on the finish line mean that the former two-time road World Champion moves up to second place in the general classification, just 15 seconds behind race leader Wild.
Result
1. Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products)
2. Roxane Fournier (Poitou-Charentes-Futuroscope)
3. Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
