Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) won the opening stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. The American was part of a five-rider breakaway that emerged over the day's late-race climbs, and attacked the group through the final corner of the race to take the victory ahead of Soraya Paladin (Ale Cipollini) and Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans). Mavi Garcia (Movistar) finished fourth. The opening stage of Setmana Ciclista Valenciana marked one of the toughest with two climbs near the end of the 120km race; Barxet (90km) and Barx (105km), that would ultimately decide who would take the first leader's jersey of the race. A breakaway of five riders emerged over the two climbs that included Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla), Mavi Garcia (Movistar), Soraya Paladin (Ale Cipollini), Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) and Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans). The gap stretched out to nearly one minute with 10km to go, but the group was reduced to four when Uttrup Ludwig lost contact, although it is unclear what happened to cause the split.ADVERTISEMENT As the four remaining rider rounded the final corner, Winder had a small gap on the others and went on to secure the stage win and first leader's jersey. The field was only seconds behind the quartet, however, with Coryn Rivera (Sunweb) finishing fifth just four seconds behind the stage winner. More to follow.
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