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Giorgia Bronzini takes second victory in two stages in la Route de France

Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s Giorgia Bronzini sprinted to her second straight stage victory in stage two of the Route de France, between Enghien-les-Bains and Mantes-la-Jolie. The former two-time World champion was once again the class of the field that arrived at the finish, after the Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling had worked hard to chase down a lone breakaway from Russian Alexandra Burchenkova in the closing kilometres of the 85.8km stage.

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Bronzini finished more than a length clear of the rest of the field, with Ashleigh Moolman (Lotto-Belisol) taking second place, ahead of Thalita de Jong (Rabobank-Liv/Giant).

“Today was a little bit shorter and because of that there were so many attacks from the start,” said Bronzini. “It was a little bit harder, with some climbs and wind today. In the final 25km there was one Russian girl that attacked, and had one minute – or one minute and a half – so I spoke together with [race leader Emma] Johansson and we decided to chase together.

“So she put her [Orica-AIS] teammates, and I put my teammates on the front and Lotte Becker, Lauren Kitchen and Mayuko Hagiwara did a really, really good job. Linda Villumsen reserved her power for an attack in the final, and I reserved my power for a possible sprint.”

Despite the brisk wind, and the fact that the peloton split for the second day in a row, there were no opportunities for anybody to attack and the stage was heading for another sprint.

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“We arrived at the finish in a bunch,” Bronzini explained. “The last corner was at 300 metres, and the finish was a little bit of a climb, which is my favourite sprint. I was in the wheel of Lizzie Armitstead [Lotto-Belisol], after Lauren had led me there – so she did a great job again – and I started my sprint at 150 metres, and it was good!

“When I saw that the finish was a little bit uphill I thought ‘it is one of my favourites, and I will go with all my power,’” she smiled.

With no changes to to the top of the general classification, Villumsen still sits in second place overall, just one second behind Johansson. Although she was not able to challenge the former Swedish champion in today’s stage, Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling is ready to go for the race lead when the opportunity arises.

“Linda said that she was not so good today at the start, so I told her to reserve her power for the next stage when she feels better. So we’ll try something tomorrow because, if the wind is like today, tomorrow’s stage is longer and maybe in the final we can try to do something for her, to try to take the jersey.”

Should the peloton arrive at the finish line all together again, however, it will be hard to bet against Bronzini going three from three.

“Maybe, maybe, but it’s a secret!” she laughed.

Result
1. Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)

2. Ashleigh Moolman (Lotto-Belisol)
3. Thalita de Jong (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)

Photo credit: Laurent Duflot

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