Lizzie Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) won the opening stage of this year’s Aviva Women’s Tour, after a small breakaway group was caught during the final kilometer.
Meanwhile, Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) finished second with Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) in third.  
The Finale
With 10 kilometers remaining, a small breakaway group of four riders were clinging to a one minute advantage over the chase.
However, a determined peloton succeeded in catching the escapees during the final 500 meter run-in to the finish – with Armitstead coming to the fore, and subsequently seizing the win.
Unfortunately, not everything went well for Armitstead after that, as the British rider no sooner crossed the line, she was involved in a crash that that saw her taken away by ambulance.
It appears as though Armiststead lost control control just after the finish, which sent her crashing into an adjacent media station – causing a chain reaction for several other riders.
Race Highlights
It wasn’t until after the day’s first categorized climb, that a breakaway group containing Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans), Marta Tagliaferro (Alé-Cipollini), Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare), Heather Fischer (USA) and Elinor Barker (Matrix Pro Cycling), managed to escape the clutches of the peloton – with Guarnier taking the first of bonus points.
From there, Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare) succeeded in bridging her way to the group of leaders as well, only to be followed by Katie Archibald (Pearl Izumi).
Shortly thereafter, Fischer was involved in a crash, who quickly found herself back in the peloton.
The breakaway group would eventually go on to open up a modest gap of 2:25 over the chase. However, their advantage would steadily diminish over time, to where the peloton would come to bear after the final climb. And, with the finish line readily in sight, the remaining escapees were caught – with Armitstead claiming the sprint victory.
Top 20 Finishers
1 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 2:39:53 2 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Velocio – SRAM 3 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica – Ais 4 Simona Frapporti (Ita) Ale Cipollini 5 Jolien D’Hoore (Bel) Wiggle Honda 6 Roxane Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 7 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.89 8 Alexis Ryan (USA) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team 9 Lotta Lepistö (Fin) Bigla Pro Cycling Team 10 Aude Biannic (Fra) Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.86 11 Coryn Rivera (USA) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team 12 Malgorzta Jasinska (Pol) Ale Cipollini 13 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Bigla Pro Cycling Team 14 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team 15 Sarah Roy (Aus) Orica – Ais 16 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica – Ais 17 Anouska Koster (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 18 Laura Trott (GBr) Matrix Fitness 19 Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) Ale Cipollini 20 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Ale Cipollini
General Classification After Stage 1
1 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 2:39:43 2 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Velocio – SRAM 0:00:04 3 Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:00:05 4 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica – Ais 0:00:06 5 Coryn Rivera (USA) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team 6 Elinor Barker (GBr) Matrix Fitness 0:00:07 7 Simona Frapporti (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:00:10 8 Jolien D’Hoore (Bel) Wiggle Honda 9 Roxane Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 10 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.89 11 Alexis Ryan (USA) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team 12 Lotta Lepistö (Fin) Bigla Pro Cycling Team 13 Aude Biannic (Fra) Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.86 14 Malgorzta Jasinska (Pol) Ale Cipollini 15 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Bigla Pro Cycling Team 16 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team 17 Sarah Roy (Aus) Orica – Ais 18 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica – Ais 19 Anouska Koster (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 20 Laura Trott (GBr) Matrix Fitness
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