La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es 2024 s'est donc élancée ce dimanche de Valence pour huit jours de course à l'issue desquels on connaîtra le nom de celle qui succèdera à la retraitée Annemiek Van Vleuten. Et comme lors des deux précédentes éditions, cette 1ère étape constituait déjà un premier rendez-vous très important pour les prétendantes à la victoire finale avec un contre-la-montre par équipes plat comme la main de 16 kilomètres dans la ville côtière. Un exercice qui a souri à la formation Lidl-Trek au terme d'un scénario assez fou ! En avance mais victime d'une grosse chute en fin de parcours, l'équipe américaine a malgré tout réussi le meilleur temps en 19 minutes et 20 secondes, soit seulement 2 centièmes de mieux que la Team Visma | Lease a Bike et une seconde sur la Team SD Worx-Protime ! L'Italienne Gaia Realini, qui a passé la ligne en première position, est donc la première porteuse du maillot rouge de leader.
Video : La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es / @LaVueltaFem / Amaury Sport Organisation
Video : La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es / @LaVueltaFem / Amaury Sport Organisation
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SportTranscription
00:00 Welcome to La Vuelta a Femenina 2024.
00:07 The classics are over and it's time to sink our teeth into the Grand Tour season.
00:11 But first, let's remind ourselves what happened last year.
00:15 It all kicked off with a team time trial and Jumbo Visma took victory by just a second from Canyon SRAM,
00:21 with Anna Henderson taking the first at leaders red jersey.
00:25 She would soon be passing that on to her teammates, Mariana Vos.
00:28 The Dutch legend was pipped by Charlotte de Kool on stage 2, but she took the honours on stages 3 and 4.
00:35 And then it was over to the GC battle.
00:38 Demi Follering beating Annemiek van Vleuten to take red on the first summit finish on stage 5.
00:44 But an untimely nature break and some crosswind chaos changed everything on stage 6.
00:49 AVV may have been stunned by Gaia Raillini on the line, but she ended up in red.
00:55 On to the final stage, to the iconic Lagos de Cobadonga.
00:59 Van Vleuten fighting for all she was worth because Follering was on a charge.
01:03 She won the stage, but Van Vleuten held on to seal overall victory by just 9 seconds after an epic race.
01:09 Well, Van Vleuten retired at the end of 2023, so she isn't here to defend her title.
01:19 On paper, Follering looks like the favourite, but she is yet to win a race in 2024.
01:24 Littletrack have a strong line-up, spearheaded by Elisa Longa Borghini,
01:28 twice a runner-up at this race in its previous, shorter format,
01:31 and Gaia Raillini, who was third last year.
01:34 Canyon Tram are here with Riccardo Bauernfeind, another of last year's revelations,
01:38 and Kasia Niewiadoma, who just won La Fleche Val en Femme.
01:42 And this Melissa bike will once again be targeting Red With Voss,
01:46 with Rihanna Marcus their main GC threat.
01:49 For the second year running, we start with a team time trial.
01:54 16 kilometres through the streets of Valencia.
01:57 There are no major difficulties on the course,
01:59 but it's rare to see a TTT on the Women's World Tour calendar,
02:03 so this will be an unfamiliar discipline for many of the riders.
02:06 It's going to be key for the overall GC favourites to avoid shipping too much time.
02:11 And we are off for our opening team.
02:18 They are underway for the opening stage of La Vuelta a Femenina.
02:24 Team COP Repsol had the honour of getting this Vuelta a Femenina underway
02:27 and spent a few minutes in the hot seat as the eight continental teams hit the course.
02:33 Among them were EF Education Cannondale, a brand new team this year,
02:37 but boasting some big names such as Kim Kadzo, Kristen Faulkner and Alison Jackson.
02:42 It was no surprise to see the ladies in pink going top of the timesheets.
02:46 Liv Alula Jacob are also powering around Valencia,
02:51 led by their Spanish road race champion Mavi Garcia.
02:54 But could they unseat EF?
02:57 This is going to be incredibly tight for this finish here.
02:59 We've just got four riders, which is all we need for the finish.
03:02 And what are they going to be able to do on the line?
03:03 Oh, no. One second.
03:07 Well, they weren't the only ones to come oh so close to beating that time.
03:12 FDJ Suez missing out by just seven hundredths of a second.
03:16 Wow, wow, wow. Very, very close in this team time trial.
03:20 This is getting extremely exciting today.
03:23 Well, by now, the big guns were out on course.
03:26 Last year's team time trial winners Visma Lisa Bike, Canyon SRAM down
03:31 to just five riders due to a spate of illness.
03:33 Little Trek, arguably the favourites for this stage.
03:36 And SD Works Pro Time with a very focused looking Demi Follering.
03:41 Visma Lisa Bike were the first to finally best EF's time.
03:45 Vos & Co looking to double up as they raced around in 19 minutes
03:49 and 20 seconds.
03:52 Considering their loss to Justyna Kazapler and Neve Bradbury just before the race,
03:57 Canyon SRAM did a remarkable job of limiting their losses
04:00 only eight seconds down on Visma.
04:03 Little Trek had gone quickest at the intermediate checkpoint
04:07 and they were looking dialed in, but then disaster struck on the final corner.
04:11 Oh, no, we've got a disaster.
04:13 We've got a crash on that finish bend.
04:15 We have a rider down.
04:19 But all was not lost for the American squad.
04:21 Incredibly, even with that crash, they got four of their riders
04:24 to the line in a quicker time than Visma Lisa Bike.
04:27 So could Follering and her team improve that mark?
04:33 They could not. SD Works Pro Time falling just one second short
04:37 on a day of fine margins.
04:40 As the defending champions, Mavi Stahl were the last team out on course,
04:43 but they never looked like overhauling their rivals.
04:47 Pushing, pushing, pushing.
04:48 19 minutes, 32 seconds.
04:51 So Little Trek have taken the win here in Valencia
04:57 with a time of 19 minutes and 20 seconds.
04:59 Talk about an emotional roller coaster for Little Trek.
05:03 They thought they'd lost it on the last corner when Ellen Van Dyck
05:06 and Eleanor Backstead crashed.
05:08 But then they came through to win a pulsating team time trial
05:11 by just nine hundredths of a second.
05:13 Gaia Raiolini was the first woman over the line.
05:16 So the Italian, already a stage winner last year, is our first race leader.
05:20 I'm really happy about these results for me and for the team.
05:26 But I'm not happy,
05:30 the complete happy, because in the last corner, two of my teammates crashed.
05:34 But in the end,
05:36 take these results and focus for the next stage.
05:40 Little Trek taking it by a whisker from Visma, with SD Works
05:45 only a second back.
05:46 The top 10 teams on the day only separated by 32 seconds.
05:50 Everything is still to play for.
05:53 In the overall standings, Raiolini leads her teammates, Lizzie Dignan
05:56 and Brodie Chapman.
05:57 Luckily, no concussion for Van Dyck, but she has been taken to hospital
06:01 to get stitched up and rule out any fractures.
06:03 We wish her a speedy recovery.
06:06 So a dramatic start to this Vuelta a Femenina and the fun's only
06:09 just getting started.
06:11 Join us again on Monday for a sprint between Buñol and Moncofa.
06:15 And thanks for watching.
06:16 And thanks for watching.
06:17 (bell dings)
06:20 (upbeat music)