It was a winning day for Cofidis as Hannah Ludwig secured a solo victory at the Navarra Women's Elite Classic in Pamplona, Spain, while also on Wednesday her teammate Benjamin Thomas took the stage 5 win at the Giro d'Italia in Lucca, Italy.
In Pamplona, Ludwig made her winning attack with 23km to go ahead of the final ascent Muro de Arlegui, and she crossed the line with the solo victory ahead of chasers Arlenis Sierra (Movistar), who finished second place and Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) in third.
The peloton racing at Navarra Classics tackled a 135km loop and nine ascents in Pamplona. The first half of the route included climbs over Muro de Olaverri, Muro de Tiebas and Muro de Biurrun, followed by Muro de Anorbe and Muro de Artajona, and on the return going over Muro de Obanos, Muro de Tirapu, Muro de Biurrun and a final climb up Muro de Arlegui before a descent into Pamplona.
Elena Pirrone (Roland) kicked things off with a solo breakaway as teams Lotto-Dstny and Coop-Repsol set the pace at the front of the peloton. However, the Italian only had 20 seconds on the field heading into the first ascent of the day and was caught over the top of Muro de Olaverri.
UAE Team ADQ, Cofidis and Movistar led the field into the next ascent, Muro de Tiebes, and a group of 30 riders emerged as the peloton split apart behind.
The next attack came from Liane Lippert (Movistar) at the base of the Muro de Artajona, but she was reeled back in and a group of three split off the front with her teammate Jelena Eric, Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) and another surge by Pirrone.
The move was short-lived, and the trio was caught with 55km to go, which led to additional attacks from Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) and Claire Steels (Movistar).
Cofidis and Movistar set the lion's share of the pace over the tops of the Muro de Obanos and Muro de Tirapu, where a group of 14 riders emerged.
That group then split apart after an attack from Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis), with 23km to go, and she still held a 25-second gap over the final ascent of Muro de Arlegui and down into Pamplona.
Behind the German rider, a chase formed that included Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek) and Arlenis Sierra (Movistar), Dominika Wlodraczyk ( UAE Team ADQ), Tamara Dronova (Roland). They were closely followed by Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Van Anrooij, among others, on the descent.
The two chase groups reconnected, but they were not strong enough to bring back Ludwig, who crossed the line with the win.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
