Clara Copponi sprinted to second place as the racing action continued in Poland with stage one of the women’s race.
It was a relatively straightforward opening stage with the peloton keen to keep control of the race and make sure the stage came down to a bunch sprint. With two kilometers to go, the chaos of the run into the finish meant that the Lidl-Trek squad lost each other somewhat but after the flamme rouge, the group found each other again with Emma Norsgaard doing the final lead-out for Copponi.
The Danish rider was able to drop her sprinter off inside the final 150 meters with Copponi then opening up her sprint however, Chiara Consonni (Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto) was just sitting on her wheel and came from behind in the last moments to narrowly push the French rider into second place.
Today’s stage was short and fast! We were ready to go in the breakaway and to do the intermediate sprint to improve our lead-out for the final. The finish was really fast and we started to ride early on the front to be in a really good position with everyone. The younger riders did a really good job and Emma finished the lead-out perfectly for me ! I’m sad to miss the win but [Chiara] Consonni was simply faster. There are still two more opportunities to come and we are ready for more!