It simply seems to be her finishing line. Just like last year, Mylène de Zoete won the opening stage of the Tour of Chongming Island. The curious thing is that the two victories are the only ones in the professional career of the 25-year-old Dutchwoman, who competes for the German team Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling. On the 109 kilometre long and exclusively flat course on the island off the coast of Shanghai, she came out on top relatively clearly ahead of Tereza Neumanova (UAE Team ADQ) and Silvia Zanardi (Human Powered Health). Zanardi's team colleague and favourite for the day's victory, Daria Pikulik, crashed during the race and was unable to take part in the final.

Only four teams with World Tour status made it to the penultimate event on the Women's World Tour calendar this season; in addition to the three teams on the podium, there was also Team Roland. In the Chinese rain, individual riders tried to break away from the field throughout the day. However, none of them managed to do so for long. Nevertheless, Karolina Kumiega (UAE Team ADQ) was able to secure the only mountain point of the day and thus the classification jersey. A larger group that formed around 40 kilometres before the finish was also unable to gain more than 30 seconds and was unsuccessful. Two kilometres from the end, Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) and Anne van Rooijen (VolkerWessels Pro Cyclign Team) were dreaming of a breakaway coup, but the duo were caught again on the home straight.

With her stage win, de Zoete, who has not yet signed a contract for next year, also took the lead in the overall standings and the points ranking. The 2nd stage across the island also remains flat without exception.

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Tour of Chongming Island 2024 - Results at a glance