Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta: Marlen Reusser wins stage 1 mountain test from break

Marlen Reusser (Alé BTC Ljubljana) put on a masterclass ride to win the opening stage of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta in A Rúa.

Reusser was part of a breakaway that went clear on the major climb of the day and attacked her companions inside the final three kilometers to win solo.

Coryn Rivera (Team DSM) won the sprint behind Reusser to take second with Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) rounding out the podium. The trio, including Pauliena Rooijakkers (Liv Racing), was the remains of a breakaway that went clear over the main climb of the day.

After realizing it wasn’t going to catch the breakaway, the peloton sought to limit the damage and crossed the line 1:48 behind Reusser with Elisa Balsamo taking the sprint for the line.

Thanks to her attack and bonus seconds on the line, Reusser has a 26-second gap on Rivera with Chabbey a further two seconds back and the peloton at 1:58. Despite her recent form, Reusser was surprised by her win and even more surprised that she was racing Thursday.

https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1433399625642283011?s=20

“I’m very tired, and very happy but this was the last thing I expected this morning. I never thought I would win any stage here,” Reusser said. “I thought I was so tired from the Simac Ladies Tour, I was two days in school and yesterday I spent the whole day traveling and I thought that we had a rest day today and it started tomorrow. I had it wrong in my head.

“I thought that I would do whatever and I would attack from a breakaway. Then I just pedaled a lot and we kept away. Then I felt that the others don’t have that much so I just tried to go, and it worked out. I didn’t want to sprint against Coryn Rivera, so I tried my luck and it worked out. It’s incredible.

“It was not my dream to have a leaders’ jersey, it’s a lot of work. I will not be the fastest tomorrow [in the uphill TT]. I’m really happy to have won a stage.”

🔥 CONGRATULATIONS MARLEN!@CipolliniTeam #CERATIZITChallenge21 pic.twitter.com/ZleAmprGas

— La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es (@LaVueltaFem) September 2, 2021

How it started

It was a new setting that the women’s peloton found itself for the opening stage of the Challenge by La Vuelta, with the race moving from the periphery of Madrid to the mountains of Northern Spain. Stage 1 went straight into the climbs with a 118k ride from Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda to A Rúa taking in the first category ascent of Alto da Portela.

With a long and winding descent to open the day, the group stayed together — with riders being shelled out the back – for almost half of the stage. The first attempts at getting clear from the bunch didn’t take shape until the lower slopes of the Portela.

Reusser, Chabbey, Lucy Kennedy (Team BikeExchange), Rooijakkers, and Erica Magnaldi (Ceratizit-WNT) were the first riders to make a move. Rivera then put in a big effort to join the quintet up front with 50km to go, bridging the slim gap of 1:15 on the bunch.

Kennedy and Magnaldi soon lost touch with the group and were eventually reabsorbed by the peloton, leaving just four riders to push on.

🏁 29 km to go!

📌 Head of the race | Cabeza de Carrera
+ 1'55" Keneddy
+ 2'15" Peloton

📸 @PhotoGomezSport #CERATIZITChallenge21 pic.twitter.com/fm2iRh3E97

— La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es (@LaVueltaFem) September 2, 2021

Ruthless Reusser

With over two minutes of an advantage over the bunch with 13k remaining, the four-rider breakaway looked set to contest the victory. Chabbey made two attempts at going solo with just over five kilometers to go but she was brought back.

Reusser, who was in strong form at the Simac Ladies Tour last week, brought Chabbey back both times before making her own move with 2.5k to go. She powered away from her breakaway companions, using every ounce of her TT skills to ride clear.

Back in the peloton, Movistar sought to manage the gap with the stage 2 time trial in mind, but the chase from the bunch was over. Reusser rode across the line with a comfortable margin to give herself a big advantage and the first leader’s jersey.