Georgi edged out by Pieters’ charge
British rider Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM) narrowly failed to land a famous victory on stage two of the AJ Bell Women’s Tour yesterday, as Amy Pieters (SD Worx) claimed victory in a sprint in Walsall.
Georgi was part of a 10-rider group that broke clear inside the last 10kilometres of racing and led through the final turn on to the Lichfield Street finishing straight.
But with only a handful of metres of advantage over the fast-charging Pieters and Clara Copponi (FDJ Nouvelle-aquitaine Futuroscope) she was unable to hang on, eventually finishing fifth.
It was an encouraging performance from the 21-year-old, who was singled out for praise by Lizzie Deignan after doing a sterling job to protect her at the World Championship road race in Flanders last month. Deignan described Georgi as “probably the best Team GB team-mate I’ve ever had”.
It was Pieters who ultimately claimed the fourth AJ Bell Women’s Tour stage victory of her career, though, with Copponi moving into the race lead thanks to her second place. Overnight race leader Marta Bastianelli (Ale BTC Ljubljana) finished in the peloton, 46 seconds behind the pacesetters, and conceded the blue leader’s jersey to Copponi, who is making her debut in the race.
“It was a hectic final,” said Pieters, who had team-mate Demi Vollering, one of the race favourites, working for her on the run-in.
“I think the whole day was pretty hectic. There was still a small gap after the last corner, but I thought I just needed to start to sprint. It was an urgent sprint, but it went well at the end.
“The whole day was really aggressive. We kept attacking with the team and at the end we went away. It was a really good group.”
Today’s third stage is the first individual time trial in the race’s history. It takes place over a 16.6km (10.3-mile) course starting and finishing in Atherstone town centre, in North Warwickshire.