Kirsten Wild rounds out a strong team display with a second win in China for Team Giant Shimano

Kirsten Wild has sprinted to picked up from where she left off yesterday on today’s second stage of the Tour of Chongming Island by sprinting to the stage victory. It was much closer than the previous day’s stage with the break only being caught in the final kilometre but this did not perturb Kirsten and the team in setting up the sprint finish with Kirsten once again showing how fast she can be. Team Giant-Shimno Women’s Team wanted a small break up the road on today’s 113.7km stage and the plan worked out perfectly with two riders taking to the fore. Their maximum advantage was 1’40″ as the peloton controlled their advantage behind under the impetus of the team and Marijn de Vries in particular. The two leaders were relying on their strong time trialing qualities to stay away and they managed to reach the final kilometre. From here in it was all about Kirsten as she powered through for her tenth win of the season and the team’s 13th. “The two leaders out front today are well known for their time trialing capabilities so it wasn’t easy bringing them back,” said Kirsten after the stage. “Julia Soek is the captain out here this week so she is the one who leads us on the road. She nailed it today, staying really calm and believing in our strength as a team. “We didn’t want to catch the break to early as to avoid any late attacks. Early in the stage it was Marijn who did most of the work controlling the gap. It was then full gas in the last 20km to bring the two back before the sprint and Julia and Sara Mustonen then joined to add firepower. “Willeke Knol then piloted me through the final kilometres and set me up in position to launch my sprint with 250m to go. I must thank the team for their hard work again today and it’s nice to reward them with the win.” “The communication between the team was really good today and everyone played their part in what was a real team win,” added Team Giant-Shimano coach, Ruud Verhagen. “We wanted to let a small break go and this came good but the girls had to work hard to bring them back as they proved strong out front. “The timing of closing the gap worked out but it was a bit tight with just 600m left to race. From here Willeke and Kirsten moved through for Kirsten to do another strong finishing sprint to take her second win here.”

Ufficio Stampa Team Giant Shimano