Emakumeen Bira: Wiles wins stage 3

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Tayler Wiles (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 3 of the Emakumeen Bira with a solo breakaway, delivering the new-formed team its first Women's WorldTour victory. The American attacked on the penultimate climb with 20km to go, taking a 30-second advantage into the steep finishing climb and holding off the peloton to win ahead of her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini, while Soraya Paladin (Ale Cipollini) was third and Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) fourth. Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) defends the overall lead.

The stage covered 97.6 kilometres from Murgia to the hilltop finish at the Santa Teodosia ermitage at an altitude of 1038 metres. The first 70km were flat to rolling with two points sprints and two bonus sprints. Riders then faced the climb of Opakua, 7.4 kilometres at a 5.7-per cent average, cresting 16 km from the finish. The climb to Santa Teodosia was 2.7 km long with a gruelling 9.4-per cent average and up to 17 per cent just before the line. Cool temperatures, rain, and fog further added to the difficulty of the stage.

A large breakaway of thirteen riders formed early in the stage and contested the first points sprint where Tanja Erath (Canyon-SRAM) added to her lead in the intermediate sprint classification. Mitchelton-Scott brought the break back, and Spratt won the first bonus sprint.

After a series of unsuccessful moves, Nicole Steigenga (BePink) and Roos Hoogeboom (Biehler Pro Cycling) were the next to get away halfway into the stage. Malgorzata Jasinska (Movistar Team) bridged to the front duo, and together they pulled out a lead of up to one minute. Steigenga won the second points sprint while Hoogeboom was first at the second bonus sprint.

Starting the Opakua climb with 21 km to go, the three escapees still held a 39-second advantage, but they were quickly caught when the climbers cranked up the speed behind. Jasinska persisted the longest and was caught only when Wiles attacked from the peloton just before the steepest part of the climb.

Disappearing into the mist, Wiles quickly opened a gap. She crested the top about ten seconds ahead of the peloton that was led by Longo Borghini, Sophie Wright (Bigla), Van Vleuten, and Spratt. Wiles added further to her advantage on the downhill and rolling sections that followed. At the foot of the gruelling Santa Teodosia climb, she was 30 seconds ahead of a Movistar-led chasing peloton.

Wiles persisted on the steep ramps and took an impressive solo victory, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Longo Borghini and 25 seconds ahead of Paladin and Van Vleuten. The peloton had fractured completely on the climb, with riders finishing one by one or in small groups.

Spratt finished in fifth place, 31 seconds behind Wiles. She kept the overall lead, but lost time to some of her rivals and now leads by only five seconds over Paladin and 12 seconds over Longo Borghini. Wiles moves up into fourth place at 16 seconds.

Longo Borghini defended her mountain jersey, Ane Santesteban (WNT-Rotor) is still the best Basque rider. Évita Muzic (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) took over the lead in the U23 classification. The Emakumeen Bira finishes on Saturday with a long and hard stage of 155 km that includes four climbs.

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