The four-day stage race in Spain is the first race on European soil for the women of Team Visma | Lease a Bike. With a very strong startlist and two categorized climbs in the final, the first stage was immediately a challenging one. De Vries was able to keep up for a long time on the Alto de Barx when the favorites accelerated in the already considerably thinned out peloton, but had to let go of three riders before reaching the top. In the end, the 30-year-old rider crossed the line in fifteenth place in the group behind winner Demi Vollering.

“We can be satisfied with that result”, says sports director Robby Cobbaert afterwards. “We came to Spain to ride a good general classification with Femke. Then it is very nice to see that she immediately has good legs on her first race day of the season. This gives a positive feeling for the coming days.”

Cobbaert continues: “Another goal of ours is to be able to sprint for a win here with Nienke Veenhoven. Unfortunately, today the pace was very high on the final climb and Nienke was too far behind to get back towards the head of the race. If all goes well, a chance for her will follow in the third stage.”

Tomorrow, another tough stage with many altimeters is scheduled for the riders of Team Visma | Lease a Bike. “Hopefully Femke can show her form again. As a team we have to ride offensively and show ourselves tomorrow”, the Belgian sports director concludes.