Sofie van Rooijen had to concede defeat in the sprint on Tuesday, but in the second stage of the Tour of Chongming Island, the young Dutch rider was unbeatable. Van Rooijen took down top favorite Elisa Balsamo in Chongming and secured her first WorldTour victory. She also took over the leader’s jersey from Georgia Baker.
After the crazy finish in the opening stage of the Tour of Chongming Island – Kathrin Schweinberger seemed to have claimed her first WorldTour win, but the Austrian was relegated due to a sprint maneuver – we were set for another showdown among the fastest women. The 128.6-kilometer stage was perfectly flat, inviting yet another bunch sprint.
Anne Knijnenburg on the attack
Three riders, however, hoped to prevent that and took off fairly early. Anne Knijnenburg launched an attack, and the VolkerWessels rider was joined by Italy’s Giulia Giuliani (Roland Le Dévoluy) and Russia’s Marina Komina (Li Ning Star Ladies). These three breakaway riders worked together exemplary and rode ahead of the peloton for a long time.
In fact, with ten kilometers to go, their lead was still half a minute. A promising race situation, but not enough to stay out of the peloton’s reach. Knijnenburg – who secured valuable bonus seconds and the mountain jersey along the way – was the first escapee to be caught. Giuliani and Komina resisted a bit longer but eventually had to give in as well.
Van Rooijen clearly the fastest
With just over two kilometers remaining, the peloton regrouped, and all lights were green for another sprint. In the lead-up to this sprint, Lidl-Trek had their affairs in order this time. Balsamo received what seemed like a perfect lead-out, launched the sprint first, but probably didn’t expect Sofie van Rooijen.
Sofie van Rooijen needed this after a tough year. Sprint victory and the lead for the Dutchwoman from UAE Team ADQ#TOCI2025 #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/WmuTIzyxNv
— elsterrato (@elsterrato) October 15, 2025
The 23-year-old Dutch rider clearly had an extra gear and was able to overtake the Italian star seemingly effortlessly. Riding for UAE Team ADQ, Van Rooijen stayed well ahead of Ireland’s Mia Griffin (Roland Le Dévoluy) and Balsamo to claim the first WorldTour victory of her still-young career. And not only that: with one flat stage remaining, she also leads the general classification.
Tour of Chongming Island| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 02:57:09 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
