Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda) put the disappointment of the previous day’s eleventh place to take victory in the second stage of the Tour of Chongming Island in Chongxi as she won the bunch sprint in the pouring rain. The former two-time World champion powered to the line ahead of green jersey Chloe Hosking (Hitec Products), with Annette Edmondson (Orica-AIS) - who had been brought down in front of Bronzini on stage one - taking third.
“It was the GreenEdge train again for Edmondson today, and I was on the wheel of Chloe Hosking,” Bronzini explained. “The last teammate to bring me there was Beatrice [Bartelloni]. I felt very good through the whole race, and I told the girls and they worked hard for me to he finish line.
“Most of all in the finish from Beatrice,” Bronzini added. “Because she is able to have the power to bring me up to the front, and she’s not scared to fight with the others. So I was in the right position at the right moment.”
With stage one winner and race leader Lucy Garner (Argos-Shimano) boxed in and only able to take seventh, bonus seconds on the line saw Hosking take over the junior World champion’s yellow jersey.
“It’s great to take the yellow now and to stay in the green but there’s still tomorrow and six seconds is definitely not a comfortable lead,” said Hosking. “We’ll have to stay focussed but I really hope we can keep the yellow.”
The 114km stage was fought out in strong winds, and under heavy rain as the Australian duo of Hosking and Edmondson battling for bonus seconds at the two intermediate sprints. Edmondson took the first, with Hosking second and Edmondson’s Orica-AIS teammate Emma Johansson third. This gave Hosking the virtual lead over Garner, but Edmondson had moved one second closer to her compatriot.
A midrace attack from Anastasia Chulkova (RusVelo) and Tetyana Ryabchenko (Chirio Forno d’Asolo) was joined by Johansson, Edmondson and Loes Gunnewijk (all Orica-AIS), Hosking, Elisa Longo Borghini and Cecilie Johnsen (all Hitec Products), Bronzini, Shelley Olds (Tibco), Amy Pieters (Argos-Shimano), Romy Kasper (Boels Dolmans), Elena Kuchinskaia and Oksana Kozonchuk (both RusVelo), Marta Tagliaferro (MCipollini-Giordana) and Sara Mustonen (Faren-Let’s Go Finland).
“It was a little bit of a hard race today, because there was a break in the middle of the race with the best riders - there were 15 of us I think - and they were pushing hard to try to get to the finish,” Bronzini explained. “After the second intermediate sprint, when they saw that the bunch was at 30 seconds, they stopped pulling, the big bunch caught us and we arrived at the finish together.”
As the peloton split in the wind behind this group an untimely puncture put Garner in the third group. Edmondson was initially awarded victory over Hosking at the second sprint, but the ruling was later reversed after a review, with Olds taking third. This increased Hosking’s lead over both Garner and Edmondson, but the British rider was back at the front of the race as the peloton reformed.
Into the finishing straight Bronzini positioned herself on Hosking’s wheel, however, and came around in the final hundred metres to take an emphatic sprint victory.
Result stage 2
1. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling
2. Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products
3. Annette Edmondson (Aus) Orica-AIS
4. Sara Mustonen (Swe) Faren-Let’s Go Finland
5. Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Faren-Let’s Go Finland
6. Kim de Baat (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team
7. Lucy Garner (GBr) Argos-Shimano
8. Romy Kasper (Ger) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team
9. Roxane Fournier (Fra) France National Team
10. Oksana Kozonchuk (Rus) RusVelo
Standings after stage 2
1. Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Prodcuts
2. Annette Edmondson (Aus) Orica-AIS @ 6s
3. Lucy Garner (GBr) Argos-Shimano @ 9s
4. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling @ 9s
5. Oksana Kozonchuk (Rus) RusVelo @ 15s
6. Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS
7. Sara Mustonen (Swe) Faren-Let’s Go Finland @ 18s
8. Shelley Olds (USA) Team Tibco-To The Top
9. Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Faren-Let’s Go Finland @ 19s
10. Simona Frapporti (Ita) Be Pink