The Tour of Chongming Island, a three-stage competition currently taking place in China, opened with a winning sprint by Kathrin Schweinberger and... a plot twist. At the Chongming finish line, the 28-year-old from Human Powered Health - current Austrian champion - had initially overtaken Australian Liv AlUla Jayco rider Georgia Baker and Sofie Van Rooijen from UAE Team ADQ, but after a very long consultation, the jury panel disqualified the winner for an irregular sprint. The victory thus went to Australian Georgia Baker ahead of Van Rooijen and Griffin, with Vittoria Grassi from Bepink - Imatra - Bongioanni taking sixth place after completing the 108-kilometer race ahead of Elisa Balsamo. The Piedmontese rider from Lidl Trek, despite the excellent work of her teammates, was unable to find the best position to launch her final progression.

Before the sprint that defined the finishing order, the stage was long animated by the breakaway led by Spanish rider Marina Garau (BePink - Imatra – Bongioanni), Russian Tamara Dronova (Roland Le Dévoluy), Asian time trial champion Yanina Kuskova (Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi), Estonian time trial champion Laura Sander (Team Coop – Repsol) and Kazakh road champion Yelizaveta Sklyarova (Born to Win BTC City Ljubljana Zhiraf) who led the race for several kilometers with a lead of over 1'30" on the peloton, long driven by Gaia Realini from Lidl Trek and Safia Alsayegh from UAE Team ADQ.

Both Flying Sprints with time bonuses of the day were "captured" by Dronova, but ten kilometers from the finish line the peloton caught the attackers, returning compact and thus presenting itself on the final straight.

The second day of racing will see the athletes compete along the 128 kilometers of the Shanghai / Chongming stage, where Schweinberger will be able to showcase the leader's jersey of the general classification.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Baker Georgia (Liv AlUla Jayco) in 2:30:55
2. van Rooijen Sofie (UAE Team ADQ)
3. Griffin Mia (Roland Le Dévoluy)
4. Němcová Barbora (Team Dukla Praha)
5. Uneken Lonneke (VolkerWessels Cycling Team)
6. Grassi Vittoria (BePink - Imatra - Bongioanni)
7. Balsamo Elisa (Lidl - Trek)
8. Wittevrongel Lani (Lotto Ladies)
9. Milaki Argiro (Aromitalia 3T Vaiano)
10. Schweinberger Kathrin (Human Powered Health)