Ashleigh Moolman The 2023 season has started the way the previous one ended: winning. After being crowned last year with the queen and general stage of the Tour de Romandie, The South African (37 years old) signed up this Saturday for the third day of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Femenina, Curiously, against the same rival that he surprisingly defeated last October at the top of Thyon 2000: Annemiek van Vleuten. Moolman, who left the ranks of a superpower in women’s cycling such as SD Worx, adds his first success in the group Quick-Step to, in addition, be the leader of the general in the absence of the final assault this Sunday.
The chained of Tudons and Confrides, located in the last third of a 132 km route, it was presumed totally decisive for the future of the stage. The race was cleared in the first port and practically decided in the second. In the first ramps of Confrides, as expected, Van Vleuten set his pace without looking back and everything was blown up. The Dutch crowned in the lead, followed by Moolman and Amanda Spratt, whom she could not let go.
In the descending terrain there were no surprises and everything was resolved in a sprint. Van Vleuten, who, as he recognized during the preseason, feels that his explosiveness has diminished over the years, did not have the opportunity to put the wheel on a Moolman who was much superior in the final meters. The group of the rest of the favorites came just 11 seconds behind the front trio, so the general remains more than open, with Mavi García 21″ from the lead, in the absence of the last stage: 113 km ending in Gandía and three scoring ports. Everything is possible.
Results of the 3rd stage
1st Ashleigh Moolman (Quick-Step) – 3h 48:53
2nd Amanda Spratt (Trek) – mt
3rd Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) – mt
8th mavi garcia (Liv Racing) – 11″
General of the Cycling Week
1st Ashleigh Moolman (Quick-Step) – 9h 51:54
2nd Amanda Spratt (Trek) – at 4″
3rd Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) – 6″
9th mavi garcia (Liv Racing) – 21″
