Dutch Cyclist De Vries Wins Opening Stage in Sondrio

Femke de Vries was among the breakaway riders who managed to pull away from the main peloton—which included the favorites—about 40 km before the finish. At the finish in Sondrio after 109 km, the Dutch rider narrowly prevailed in a two-woman sprint against her British breakaway companion, Lauren Dickson. Thanks to her first professional victory, de Vries also claimed the yellow jersey.

“I felt pretty good,” said last year’s winner, Marlen Reusser, after the first stage. “Unfortunately, from a tactical standpoint, it didn’t go quite as planned. There were quite a few contenders for the overall classification in the breakaway group. 38 seconds is no small margin, but it was damage control.” At one point, the favorites were nearly two minutes behind the leaders.

There was also good news in Sondrio from Ginia Caluori. The 23-year-old from Graubünden finished 14th in Sondrio, making her the third-best Swiss rider (1:19 minutes behind). It was also announced that Caluori is moving from the Swiss Continental Team Nexetis to Movistar on a two-year contract. Marlen Reusser is also under contract with the top Spanish team.

Stage 2 on Thursday, starting and finishing in Locarno, covers 105.6 km. After a loop to Biasca and back, the final stretch features two short but steep climbs—similar to Wednesday’s stage. The favorites for the stage win are therefore drawn from the same group of riders as in Sondrio.