The opening day of racing at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas saw the peloton tackle lots of rolling terrain and short climbs, before a flatter finish into Burgos. Working well as a group, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rode as a unit through the rain and into the echelon sections, making sure to stay safe. Coming into the finale the lone leader held a good gap so the bunch had to ride the climbs aggressively. Some good positioning work by the rest of the squad saw Esmée Peperkamp and Megan Jastrab make it into the reduced peloton, both of whom were making their return to racing with the team. Inside three kilometres to go the break was caught and a fast finish was set-up, with Jastrab holding a good position near the front. However, she just avoided a crash in front of her coming around the final corner and after that her momentum was stopped, ultimately picking up a ninth place on the stage; still a good result on her first race day of the season.
Speaking after the finish Jastrab said: “My first race back with the team had a bit of everything with the climbs, echelons, rain, and a sprint in the end. I was surprised with how good I felt in the bunch and on the tough moments during the race. It was a great feeling being back in the peloton and I had a lot of moments where I was smiling because I was having so much fun. In the final, it was very hard because of the small climb and crosswinds while the peloton was bringing back the break. The girls put me in a good position which I was happy with and felt confident to get a nice result today, but sadly there was a really bad crash right in front of me with 200 metres to go. I was able to just avoid it, but all the speed was gone and with that the chance of a nice result also. I send my best wishes to those that went down. Overall, I’m happy with how the first race back with the team went and I’m looking forward to the next three days of racing with the girls. Also it will be nice to start in the white jersey as best young rider tomorrow as well.”