With an impressive sprint, young Dutch rider Sofie van Rooijen claimed victory in the second stage of the Tour of Chongming Island, covering a distance of 128.6 kilometers from Shanghai to Chongming.
It’s the first WorldTour-level win for the talented UAE Team ADQ sprinter, who crossed the line ahead of Mia Griffin (Roland Le Dévoluy) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl–Trek).
This triumph comes after her second place in yesterday’s opening stage and also earns Sofie van Rooijen the leader’s jersey in the General Classification, with just one stage remaining in the short Chinese stage race.
Once again, this victory crowns the excellent teamwork by her teammates Elynor Backstedt, Safiya Alsayegh, Lizzie Holden, Dominika Wlodarczyk, and Karliin Swinkels, who worked hard to close the gap to the breakaway in the final kilometers before leading their teammate to a well-deserved win.
Sofie van Rooijen said: “This one really means a lot to me. It’s been a tough year, both mentally and physically. Over the past few months, I’ve started to feel better and better, and my only focus was China. I’m so happy to see that all the hard work over the past months has finally paid off.
But today’s victory truly belongs to the team. The girls were absolutely flying in the lead-out, and everyone showed me so much trust. It means a lot to feel the belief and support from my teammates and staff – it gave me huge confidence going into the sprint.
I’m really happy I could finish it off. A big thank you to the whole team, including everyone who isn’t here but has always believed in me. Thank you!”
