Marta Bastianelli wins the Vuelta CV Feminas

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Marta Bastianelli won the Vuelta CV Feminas, the opening race of the 2022 women’s season, using her speed and experienced sprinting skills to go early and so avoid a crash in the final hundred metres. 

35-year-old Bastianelli gave UAE Team ADQ their first win after UAE came onboard as new title sponsor and under new ownership.  

Fellow Italians Ilaria Sanguineti (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Barbara Guarischi (Movistar) finished second and third but race officials later relegated Guarischi and so Kathrin Schweinberger (Ceratizit-WNT)  moved up to third place.  

Bastianelli was given an excellent lead out by her teammates and then hit out early in the finishing straight. Chiara Consonni (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Susanne Andersen (Uno-X Pro) bumped shoulders and Consonni went down hard. Andersen stayed up and finished fifth. 

The 92km race was controlled by the sprint teams during the fast ride from Paterna to Valencia. There were a number of attacks but the peloton closed them down on the wide roads. 

UAE Team ADQ had clearly worked on their sprint lead out strategy and set-up Bastianelli to hit out at the right time and give the new look WorldTour team a first win.

"I'm very happy to win with the new team and with a new jersey. It's a good start," Bastianelli said. 

"I'm happy for teammates because we've worked hard. When there are such strong  young riders, it's difficult for me in the sprints because I'm not a real sprinter.

"It was a nervous race and so I stayed behind in the peloton with my  teammates. Then we did a very good job and that makes me happy." 

Bastianelli will return to Spain for the Volta Comunitat Valenciana Femines later in February and hinted 2022 could be her final season.  

"I'll be back later in the month and then there's the big races in Belgium. Maybe it's the last year for him. I'm happy to finish as a winner," she said.