La Vuelta Femenina 2024: Lidl-Trek survive late crash to sneak victory on Stage 1 team time trial

Updated 28/04/2024 at 17:46 GMT

A crash on the final corner of the opening stage of La Vuelta Femenina was not enough to stop Lidl-Trek winning the team time trial . A collision between Ellen van Dijk and Elynor Backstedt had threatened to derail a promising ride, but the team gathered themselves to beat Visma-Lease a Bike by just nine hundredths of a second. Gaia Realini claimed the red jersey after crossing the line first.

Lidl-Trek survive final-corner 'disaster' to win Stage 1 team time trial

Lidl-Trek survived a final-corner crash to win the Stage 1 team time trial at La Vuelta Femenina, pipping Visma-Lease a Bike by just nine hundredths of a second.

Gaia Realini was first to cross the finish line in Valencia, meaning she claimed the leader's red jersey.

But the 22-year-old and her team-mates had to survive some incredible late drama after a crash in the final kilometre nearly derailed her team's pursuit of first place.

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The smash occurred on the last corner of the race when Ellen van Dijk collided with Elynor Backstedt.

That looked to have gifted Visma victory but Lidl-Trek rallied superbly to regroup and sneak victory on the line. SD Worx-Protime came in third, only 1.8s behind the winners.

"I am really happy about this result for me and for the team," said Realini afterwards.

"I'm not completely happy because in the last corner, two of my team-mates crashed. But in the end, we take this result and focus on the next stage."

Lidl-Trek showed great awareness as the finish line approached. As Van Dijk and Backstedt lay stricken on the tarmac, Elisa Longo Borghini and Brodie Chapman waited for Realini and Lizzie Deignan to come home together - with the team's time taken from the fourth rider across the line.

They were still left with a sense of what could have been though as the margin of victory would have been much larger had it not been for the crash.

"It’s definitely mixed emotions," said Chapman. "We set out to win today and Ellen van Dijk was crucial for it as she took the longest, hardest pulls.

"It was unfortunate that she crashed along with Elynor. Without that crash, we would have won by a lot – yet we saved victory at the end and it’s enough.

"We made some mistakes, yet we had an amazing race. Now we just hope for Ellen and Elynor to heal up quickly."

The second stage of the race takes place between Bunyol and Moncofa tomorrow, with a sprint finish expected.

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