Lisa Brennauer wins the CERATIZIT Challenge by La Vuelta 20 and Elisa Balsamo takes the final stage

November 8 ^th 2020 - 14:59 [GMT + 1]

The Italian rider from Valcar Travel & Service, Elisa Balsamo, won the last stage of the CERATIZIT Challenge 2020 on the circuit of Madrid ahead of Lorena Wiebes (Team Sunweb) and Marta Bastianelli (Alé BTC Ljubljana). Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit WNT) defended the leader’s red jersey and dominated the overall standings ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek Segafredo) and Lorena Wiebes.

The riders went full gas with many attacks from the start in the Spanish capital city. Alessia Vigilia (CRONOS Casa Dorada) had to abandon after an unfortunate crash in the first laps. Meanwhile, Lisa Brennauer and Lorena Wiebes were battling the overall victory in the intermediate sprints.

After many breakaway attempts, Elisa Longo Borghini attacked on her own with some 50km to go. She opened a 30’’ gap and managed to hold off the peloton until many teams upped the ante and eventually reel in the Italian star 13km away from the finish.

The pack remained bunched until the final lap. In the sprint, Balsamo made the most of her pure speed to take victory ahead of Wiebes and Bastianelli. Brennauer took the 7th place and her consistent placings in the intermediate sprint granted her both the overall victory and the points classification. “It was a tough fight today, but I found that the harder the race became, the best was for me”, Brennauer said, highlighting the “awesome job” of her teammates to repeat her success from 2019 as the overall winner of the CERATIZIT Challenge.