Vuelta a Extremadura. Francis Jenaya and Nadia Gontova in the right tempo

Mar 8, 2025, 12:37 AM

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Photo credit : Vuelta a Extremadura

After an encouraging performance yesterday, Francis Jenaya and Nadia Gontova once again came out on top on the second stage of the Tour of Extremadura. Respectively twelfth and twentieth, the Canadians finished in the leading group and can look forward to a strong overall finish.

As Nadia Gontova had announced, she was looking forward to this stage. And as expected, the Canadian was there. An almost perfect day. Often at the back of the pack, the WOS rider expended an enormous amount of energy to get back into the leading group. Back and forth, back and forth : “It was very hard. I made a lot of mistakes”, she recounts. Too many, according to manager Jean-Christophe Barbotin, to claim better results. “We have recurring placement problems”, he says.

Despite these shortcomings, Nadia Gontova was “happy to be back in the lead after a very long chase”. Jenaya Francis, another Canadian, four years younger, came in for the win. “The sprint was complicated with bumps and turns”, she concedes. In conclusion: “I'm satisfied with the way the youngsters behaved”, says the team manager. The two Canadians will have their cards to play tomorrow in the race for the overall classification.

“They were there”, Jean-Christophe Barbotin

Jean-Christophe Barbotin is not unhappy with the performance of Marine Allione, Camille Fahy, Florence Normand and Constance Valentin in their role as team-mates. “They were on the ball. Very good teamwork.” The only black mark on the day : leader Karolina Perekitko changed bikes twice. Thirty-first, two minutes and one second behind the day's winner Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility), her chances of overall victory are gone for good.

Results :

Jenaya Francis : 12th

Nadia Gontova : 20th

Karolina Perekitko : 31st

Marine Allione : 50th

Constance Valentin : 51st

Camille Fahy : 52nd

Florence Normand : 66th