Van Agt finishes Itzulia in top ten

Van Agt finishes Itzulia in top ten

Eva van Agt has finished Itzulia in ninth place. The young Jumbo-Visma rider held the lead in the tricky final stage. Amber Kraak finished the Basque stage race in eleventh place. The overall victory went to Marlen Reusser, who soloed to victory in the final stage.

Without the sick Karlijn Swinkels, the peloton set off on a 115-kilometre ride in and around Donostia. With the Jaizkibel, known from the Clasica San Sebastian, and the Mendizorrots, the riders faced two challenging climbs. Ten riders were part of the day's breakaway, but their adventure was short-lived.

On the Mendizorrots, Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten accelerated, and it looked like the two seemed to be on their way to reaching the finish first. However, the two did not work well together as three chasers caught them in the final kilometres. Reusser took advantage and won the stage and the general classification.

"It was a very good week for us"

Carmen Small

Van Agt finished 16th. That was enough to keep her in the top ten of the Basque stage race. "It was a tough day", race director Carmen Small said. "Amber and Eva were in the lead group after the Jaizkibel and did well. The last climb was very steep, so we knew it would be difficult to stay with them."

"The ladies did everything they could and tried to come back in the final kilometres, but the gap was too big. In the end, we can be very proud of Eva's ninth place and Amber's 11th place overall. All in all, it was a very good week for us. We learned a lot and improved every day."

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