CANYON//SRAM Racing finished Vuelta a Burgos Feminas with Elise Chabbey and Soraya Paladin fourth and seventh in the general classification. The squad celebrated winning the team classification.

No breakaway was given any leeway on the final queen stage as the peloton focused entirely on the Category-1 Alto de Rozavientos climb. Vollering attacked on the steep slopes and carried one solo to take the stage and overall win. Elise battled hard on the climb to stay in contact with the first chase group. She crossed the line fifth on the stage, enough to keep her fourth place in the general classification. Neve Bradbury finished eighth on the stage, maintaining the gap to the riders ahead and meaning Soraya could finish seventh overall.

RIDER REACTIONS

Elise Chabbey: “I’m disappointed because I feel the podium was achievable, but I tried everything to drop Swinkels on the last climb. In the downhill, I could drop her a bit, but then she came back with Van Anrooij. We tried then to catch Muzic, who was just seconds in front, but I knew that the podium was impossible anymore. The team was fantastic today, keeping Soraya and me in the front the whole day and covering every move! Everyone was committed, and that’s super nice. I’m happy we won team classification, and Maike could sprint to third yesterday. Even if I’m disappointed I also have to remember that in all the last races, I fought with the best riders and fought for the podium every time, so I have to keep believing and keep fighting.”

Soraya Paladin: “It was a challenging final stage. The first part of the race was easy. In the second part, it was always going up. Some big groups were going, but the team was always present. Seeing how we could be in control and committed to each other was nice. Then, we had this final and steep climb. It was too hard for me, but I’m happy I could survive and, in the end, sprint to keep the top 10 in the GC. It gives me confidence. It was nice to celebrate on the podium with the whole team. The atmosphere and the morale were great these days. It rewards everyone’s hard work, including the staff and Adam as Sport Director. It showed that we have a strong team, and if we keep racing like this, we will have fun together and get the big results we aim for.”

Alice Towers: “The tour was fun and successful for our team. We had a great atmosphere the whole race, and I’d say the highlights were how we committed to each other and had each other’s backs in the race. Of course, yesterday’s podium and the double top 10 on GC were super cool and showed how we worked together.”

“We were happy with the top 10s and proud of Soraya and Elise’s performances. Of course, we aimed to finish on the podium, but the girls gave it their all, and it was a pleasure to work hard for them. The cherry on top was the team classification! It was a nice reward to how we were racing over the four days, and to go to stand on the podium with all your teammates is always special and fun.”

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