Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) secured a dominant overall victory in the Emakumeen Euskal Bira in the Basque region of Spain, as wins in two of the four stages gave the Swedish champion a final overall lead of 38 seconds over second place Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec Products). Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-lululemon) won the battel for third place, 2’14” behind Johansson.
“This is a very big victory for me,” said Johansson after the final stage. “It’s an especially important win because all the big names were here. I’ve had a lot of podium places this year, and I’m happy to finally pull out a win like this. It was so important for me to bring it home today. I had to do it. I didn’t have any other option.”
The first stage of the race, starting and finishing in Iurreta, was taken by Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant), but the World champion saw the lead pass over to big rival Johansson, as the Swedish champion escaped with Longo Borghini in the closing kilometres of stage two, in Aretxabaleta, and took her first victory.
Victory in the 13.4km Orduña time trial saw Johansson open up her 38-second lead over Longo Borghini, having started the day on the same time, and meant that the Italian would likely be the only challenger as she headed into the final stage between Fruiz and Gatika.
“We knew that the other teams would race offensively,” Johansson explained. “We were prepared for an aggressive race. All day long the race broke up and came back together. More attacks would happen, and it would break up and came back together all over again.”
Longo Borghini won the final stage but, with Johansson finishing in third place just behind her in a group of four, the Italian was able to make no progress overall. Stevens finished second, cementing her third place overall ahead of the rest of the peloton, with Anna van der Breggen (Sengers Ladies) taking fourth.
“It felt like Elisa and I were the strongest today,” said Johansson afterwards. “She and I were always in the front. We kept riding away from the others, and a new group would take shape. Finally, at the end, there were only four of us – me, Elisa, Evelyn and Anna.
“I was really focused today,” Johansson continued. “I know I said that yesterday, too, but it’s true. Being in yellow seems to give riders extra focus or extra nerves. For me, it’s pressure, but it’s good pressure. It gives me more motivation. I was tired today after really emptying myself in the time trial yesterday, but I stayed alert the entire race.”
Results Emakumeen Euskal Bira (2.1)
Stage 1 (Iurreta - Iurreta, 91.3km)
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv/Giant
2. Adrie Visser (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team
3. Rossella Ratto (Ita) Hitec Products
4. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Rabobank-Liv/Giant
5. Christine Majerus (Lux) Sengers Ladies
Stage 2 (Aretxabaleta - Aretxabaleta, 103.5km)
1. Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products
3. Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv/Giant @ 26s
4. Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Orica-AIS @ 55s
5. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon @ 1’22”
Stage 3 (Orduña - Orduña ITT,13.4km)
1. Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS
2. Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Specialized-lululemon @ 38s
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products
4. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Sengers Ladies
5. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon @ 52s
Stage 4 (Fruiz - Gatika, 88.7km)
1. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products
2. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon
3. Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS
4. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Sengers Ladies @ 3s
5. Megan Guarnier (USA) Rabobank-Liv/Giant @ 1’06”
Final overall standings
1. Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products @ 38s
3. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon @ 2’14”
4. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Sengers Ladies @ 2’45”
5. Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv/Giant @ 2’57”
6. Alena Amialyusik (Blr) Be Pink @ 4’12”
7. Megan Guarnier (USA) Rabobank-Liv/Giant @ 4’15”
8. Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabobank-Liv/Giant @ 4’35”
9. Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Faren-Let’s Go Finland @ 4’44”
10. Shara Gillow (Aus) Orica-AIS @ 4’45”