Arlenis fifth in Flanders World Championships
Havana, September 25 (RHC)-- Cuban cycling star Arlenis Sierra came fifth in the road race at the cycling world championships in Flanders (Belgium), for the best performance in the history of a female cyclist from the island in road races.
"Extraordinary performance of Arlenis in the World Championship in Belgium. She fought all day against the strongest in the world, threw herself into the final sprint and came fifth, just centimeters away from the podium," her club, A.R.Monex, posted on social networks, highlighting her great result.
The illustrious daughter of Manzanillo (eastern Cuba) and pride of Cuban cycling, crossed the finish line in a group of 15 riders, who came in just one second behind the champion, the Italian Elisa Balsamo, and the runner-up, the Dutch multi-time winner Mariane Vos. Both clocked 3h52.27, in the 157.7 km course, with a little more than 1000 mt of altitude.
Arlenis was only surpassed by the gold and silver medalists, as well as by Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma (bronze) and Hungary's Kata Blanska (fourth).
Also in the top ten were the well-known Demi Volering (Netherlands) and Coryn Rivera (United States), in seventh and tenth place, respectively, while the Olympic queen of Tokyo, Annemiek Van Vleuten (Netherlands), finished in 19th place.
With this result, the 28-year-old Cuban, who has been on the professional circuit for several years, improved her 12th place in the Yorkshire-2019 World Cup.
Despite constant attacks throughout the course, especially from the Dutch, about 30 riders of the 176 who took the start came to fight for the podium in the last kilometers. The group had to absorb Spanish rider Mavi Garcia, who was able to pull out about 40 seconds after a solo breakaway, 11 km from the finish line.
For Balsamo it was her first major win among adults, after being crowned world junior monarch in 2016.
"It's a dream come true after a very long season. The team was fantastic, they did an amazing job. But do you realize I beat Marianne Vos today? That's crazy. In the last corner I just thought about going full throttle," said the Italian after the victory.
Order of finish according to Tuttobiciweb.it
BALSAMO Elisa 03:52:27
VOS Marianne 0
3. NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna 1
4. VAS Kata Blanka 1
5. SIERRA CANADILLA Arlenis 1
6. JACKSON Alison 1
7. VOLLERING Demi 1
8. LUDWIG Cecilie 1
9. BRENNAUER Lisa 1
10. RIVERA Coryn 1
11. MOOLMAN-PASIO Ashleigh 1
12. AMIALIUSIK Alena 1
13. CHABBEY Elise 1
14. DEIGNAN Elizabeth 1
15. FREI Sina 1
16. KOPECKY Lotte 1
17. LONGO BORGHINI Elisa 1.
18. VAN DIJK Ellen 8
19. VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek 8
20. CAVALLI Marta 15
WINDER Ruth 17
22. BASTIANELLI Marta 17
23. CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia 29
24. NEYLAN Rachel 45
25. HENDERSON Anna 49
HARRIS Ella 49
27. CORDON RAGOT Audrey 49
28. KERN Spela 50
29. GARCIA CANELLAS Margarita Victoria 50
30. PIETERS Amy 50
31. CANUEL Karol-Ann 50
32. van den BROEK-BLAAK Chantal Chantal 50
33. MAJERUS Christine 50
34. D'HOORE Jolien 01:21
35. GEORGI Pfeiffer 01:21
36. BRAND Lucinda 03:01
37. KOCH Franziska 03:29
38. ROY Sarah 03:31
39. SANTESTEBAN GONZALEZ Ane 03:31
40. SHACKLEY Anna 03:31
41. CROMWELL Tiffany 03:31
42. PATINO BEDOYA Paula Andrea 03:31
43. NILSSON Hanna 03:31
44. SHAPIRA Omer 03:31
45. BIANNIC Aude 03:34
46. LABOUS Juliette 03:34
47. YSLAND Anne Dorthe 06:23
