Mischa Bredewold sprints to second place in the second stage of Itzulia

Mischa Bredewold came very close to making it two out of two in Itzulia. The leader of the general classification was just unable to catch both breakaway riders with her long sprint. Dominika Wlodarczyk took the victory, ahead of Mischa Bredewold, who still picked up bonus seconds. Bredewold therefore heads into the decisive final day of Itzulia as the overall leader.

Mischa Bredewold: “The stage went as we expected, with many attacks. Because the attacks only started late, the finale became very hard. I had two goals today: trying to win the stage, but also keeping a close eye on the general classification. You can’t focus on everything at once, so you have to pick your moments to respond. In the finale we lost some control because we didn’t have the right numbers at the key moments.”

“I decided not to jump when Wlodarczyk & Van Anrooij attacked, exactly because I was trying to be smart with my energy with the general classification in mind. When we got so close towards the end and there was a headwind, I thought: maybe I can still catch them with a long sprint. That I ultimately just fall short is a bit disappointing. But tomorrow is the decisive stage for the overall victory. The climb towards San Sebastian will, as always, decide the general classification. It will definitely be another tough battle,” concluded Bredewold.