After getting into the breakaway, Elena Pirrone distanced her companions and took an impressive solo victory at the Women’s Cycling Grand Prix Stuttgart.
The rolling parcours created a race which looked like a good opportunity for a breakaway to win the day. Pirrone got into the early break, and rode well with the four other riders, and attacked on a climb with four laps to go. Coming into the finale, Pirrone had to work hard to keep in front of a frantic chasing peloton who had the win in their mind. Having recently completed the Giro Donne, Pirrone used the form she developed there and rode a commanding race to hold off the peloton and take the victory.
Pirrone was delighted with her victory, as she had to work hard for it, and was happy to reap the rewards.
“Well, it was a hard race. We started really fast and on the steepest climb, I attacked to try and make a small group. We were a quintet until the entry of the final circuit. I attacked with 4 laps to go because I saw the bunch was coming and that was the right time to go. I didn’t really know my gap for most of the race but on the last lap, at a U-turn with two and a half kilometers to go, I saw that I had a good gap and I started to believe in it. I was really working towards this win and I am really happy. I hope that from now on it will go only better!”
Sports Director, Jochen Dornbusch, was happy not just with Elena’s performance, but the hard work of all the riders in the team.
“I’m very happy with Elena’s performance today. She worked hard to get into the breakaway, and then to attack the other riders and hold off the peloton is very impressive. The whole team rode a very strong race today, and we can be really pleased with our performance. We deserved our victory!”
