Itzulia. Karolina Perekitko and Nadia Gontova imperial

May 19, 2025, 03:18 AM

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Photo credit : Quentin Photographie BE

In form since the start of the season, Karolina Perekitko and Nadia Gontova confirmed their form at the Itzulia Women, a three-day stage race. They finished 11th and 15th respectively.

They had come here to take on the world's best. The riders from the French team were also present at the Tour of the Basque Country. Poland's Karolina Perekitko, who recently extended her contract until 2027, and her team-mate Nadia Gontova both did well.

Stage 1 : Zumarraga - Agurain

Jean-Christophe Barbotin: "It was a bit of an eventful stage. The altimetry wasn't flat. We really thought it was going to end in a sprint. We needed to stick to our strategy, which was to protect Karolina Perekitko and Nadia Gontova so that they arrived within the time of the pack and there were no breaks on the first day. Unfortunately, we weren't able to sprint."

Stage 2 : Ugao Miraballes - Igorre

Jean-Christophe Barbotin: "The aim was to protect our two climbers and get into the breakaway. That's what Marie-Morgane Le Deunff did, after battling hard. She had a lead of exactly 1 minute and 16 seconds. She was caught 500 metres from the top of the pass. Nadia Gontova and Karolina Perekitko remained in the lead. They arrived at the sprint with a group of 50-60 girls. Karolina Perekitko was 19th. They're in the running for the overall classification. That's encouraging."

Karolina Perekitko : "It was good day, i stayed watchout to follow good wheels, then on the sprint it was hard to go cause it is nervous but i feel like im imporoving so 19 place is nice."

Marie-Morgane Le Deunff : "It was a positive day. It was complicated after giving it everything to get over the hump in the lead."

Stage 3 : donostia - donostia

Karolina Perekitko : "Today was a good day, we stayed concentrate all day long, on flat sections it was full gas and really hard, on first climb a lot happen but we stayed just in the group, before main climb the one before finish or was so hard and full gas, I position me pretty good and can stay with best girls, pity that on descent i can’t follow girls and lost wheels. I will work on that, on finish we wanted do the best position for sprint and Nadia Gontova lead me out we feel good together and Trust each other it is nice. Every race we improve. It is my best position in wwt race, of course top 10 was close, but with hard work commitment I belive that all good will come".

Nadia Gontova : "I finish with Karolina Perekitko. It was a good race I felt really strong climbing and was with the front group (except Demi Vollering) at the top of the climb. I unfortunately lost the group on the descent and tried to do what I could to chase. It is disappointing to loose the group on the descent but overall I am really happy with 15th on GC on my first world tour stage race. My teammates helped me a lot in the past 3 days and without them this result wouldn’t have been possible."

Results :

11th - Karolina Perekitko

15th - Nadia Gontova

67th - Jenaya Francis