Attacking Juliette Labous finishes 3rd into Basauri, moving up to 2nd on GC

The second day of racing saw a slight change in parcours, but with a steep climb still in the closing 40 kilometres and some rolling hills in the finale; it was set to be a tricky day out. Some strong riding by Team dsm-firmenich PostNL saw GC finisher Juliette Labous well positioned going onto the main climb on the day, where she dug deep and rode at her own pace, bringing together a front group of eight once they finished the following descent. Initially holding onto a 50 second advantage, a strong chase from those behind brought things back together as they headed into the last 15 kilometres.
On a kicker coming through town, Labous sensed her opportunity and launched a big attack, getting a gap over the bunch. Garcia and Bredewold managed to bridge and the trio worked well together, building up an advantage that peaked at almost 30 seconds. Approaching the finale, Bredewold played her teammate’s card, but Labous continued to drive the pace, knowing the importance and the potential GC advantage for the following day. A punchy kick up the to the line saw the peloton cut into their advantage but the trio would fight it out for the win, with Labous crossing in third place on the stage. It’s a result that sees her and the team move up to second overall ahead of tomorrow’s final, and most challenging stage.
Speaking at the finish Labous expressed: “It was a hard day in the end. It started off quite easily, where Francesca and Eleonora tried to create some attacks to get into a breakaway but that didn’t work. They then focused on positioning us for the steep climb. After the downhill I was in a group of eight which was nice but then a big group came back. We knew that if I wanted to play for the win then we had to try something. I did a nice attack and went all-in to try and get the best gap for the GC. In the end the gap is actually quite small but it is better than being behind. I’m really happy, today I had good legs and we have one stage left to try and get even more than we did today.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Callum Ferguson added: “It was a nice day and exciting in the end. We knew the main climb would be decisive and Juliette found herself in the front group of eight. A bit unexpectedly the bigger group came back from behind after a chase. It was always our plan for Juliette to try something and go on the attack in the finale. She did that and once the gap opened we just invested all the way to the line.”