Dutch sprinter Sofie van Rooijen claimed second place in the opening stage of the Tour of Chongming Island, a 108.6-kilometre race starting and finishing in Chongming, China – the penultimate event of the UCI WorldTour season.
The day featured a long breakaway involving five riders, which was caught by the peloton with around 10 kilometres to go. UAE Team ADQ played a key role in the chase, with Elynor Backstedt, Safiya Alsayegh, Lizzie Holden, Dominika Wlodarczyk, and Karliin Swinkels all working hard both to close the gap and to position van Rooijen for the final sprint.
In the closing metres, van Rooijen was slightly boxed in against the barriers during the sprint. After reviewing the incident, the race jury decided to relegate the initial winner, Kathrin Schweinberger (Human Powered Health), promoting Georgia Baker (Liv AlUla Jayco) to first place and confirming van Rooijen in second.
It was a strong and cohesive team performance, and with van Rooijen showing excellent form, UAE Team ADQ can look ahead with confidence to the next stages.
