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For the second time in a row, the Piccolo Trofeo Binda, opener of the junior women’s Nation’s Cup, was won by a British rider: Imogen Wolff took a solo victory ahead of her teammate and 2023 winner Cat Ferguson who won the sprint for second place ahead of Auke De Buysser (AG Insurance-Soudal U19).
The race was held on the same course as the Women’s WorldTour Trofeo Alfredo Binda.
The 74.4-kilometre race consisted of a 25.9km run-in to Cittiglio followed by two laps of 15.4km that only included the easier lower part of the Orino climb and a final 17.7-kilometre lap that was the same as in the elite race.
Wolff attacked in the town of Cittiglio with two laps to go, 33km from the finish, and quickly built a 35-second gap. Entering the final lap, her advantage to a peloton of about 60 riders was down to 11 seconds, but Wolff held on and won the race solo, giving herself an early birthday present nine days before her 18th birthday.
Ferguson took second place in the bunch sprint 19 seconds behind.
“It was really a super race today,” Wolff said to Bici.pro. “I’m really happy to have gone alone. What’s more, it’s so far from the finish line, almost 35 kilometres. At first I didn’t believe it, but then I managed to keep going until the finish line.”
Wolff competed in the same race last year, finishing 11th in her first year as a junior. The experience paid off, according to the rider from Yorkshire.
“Last year I was almost there when I had some problems at the end, so I definitely had some memories that encouraged me to do better.”
