Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) won the 9th edition of the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, in Durango, near Bilbao in the northwest Basque region of Spain. The Dutch champion easily outsprinted the other three members of a breakaway group at the end of the rolling 113km race, winning by more than a bike length. She beat her big rival Emma Johansson (RedSun Cycling) into second place and Vos’ teammate Annemiek Van Vleuten, who has shared so many podiums with her team leader recently, beat Judith Arndt (HTC-Columbia) for the final podium spot.
The foursome escaped on the final climb, the Alto de Muniketagane, with 13.5km to go and stayed away to the finish.
21-year-old Lizzie Armitstead (Cervélo TestTeam) beat 10-time champion Nicole Cooke, and French champion Christel Ferrier-Bruneau, 15 seconds later in the dash for fifth place; winning a contest that could be a forecast of the British championships in just over two weeks time. Carla Ryan (Cervélo TestTeam) led home a trio of Australians for eighth place at 51 seconds, and Chantal Blaak (Netherlands) led the bunch in, 1’41” back.
While he race is ranked as just 1.2 it is regarded as a precursor to the 2.1-ranked Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira stage race, which starts on Thursday. Winners of Durango-Durango often win there too.
Result Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) RedSun Cycling
3. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit
4. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Columbia
5. Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Cervélo TestTeam @ 15s
6. Nicole Cooke (GBr) Great Britain National Team
7. Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) Vienne-Futuroscope
8. Carla Ryan (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam @ 51s
9. Vicki Whitelaw (Aus) Lotto Ladies Team
10. Rachel Neylan (Aus) Australian National Team @ 52s