CORYN RIVERA sprinted to her first career Women’s WorldTour victory in Cittiglio recently, with the 24-year-old, who was born in the Philippines, surviving the hilly 131-kilometer Trofeo Alfredo Binda circuit to win a reduced bunch sprint ahead of Arlenis Sierra and Cecile Uttrup Ludwig.
It was the first time in more than a decade that the one-day Italian classic has been contested by a group larger than 10 riders.
“This one tops it all,” said Rivera in a post-podium press conference. “I didn’t doubt myself. I really had to fight and to push. The team worked hard to get me in the position to be there and be ready to fight for the finish.”
Ellen van Dijk’s efforts were the most obvious among Rivera’s teammates. The Dutchwoman marked dangerous moves in the last two of four total circuit laps and provided Rivera with an unmatched lead-out in the slightly uphill sprint.
“She’s totally instrumental in our teamwork,” said Rivera, when asked about van Dijk. “Her power and strength are unreal. If she hadn’t caught back on to the group, and I didn’t have the same lead-out she gave me, I think the final would have been a lot harder for me.”
Both van Dijk and Rivera are both new signings for strengthened Team Sunweb. Van Dijk made the move from Boels-Dolmans, while Rivera came over from UnitedHealthcare.
While Rivera, who was born in Tondo to Filipino parents, may not be a name familiar to Europeans, she’s a household name for American cycling fans. She dominated the admittedly sparse junior ranks and split her first four years as an elite between pursuing her undergraduate degree from Marion University while making a name for herself as the top sprinter racing on US soil. Rivera graduated last spring and signed with the Dutch-registered squad in the summer.
Rivera opened her sprint 200 meters to the finish line. The dash for the line turned into a two-women race with Sierra nearly able to match Rivera’s powerful kick. Uttrup Ludwig finished two bike lengths back to round out the podium. The trio were recorded as two seconds quicker than the remainder of the bunch, which was led in by Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans)
“I couldn’t do it without my teammates. They believed in me, and I paid them back by believing in myself,” Rivera said. “I might be small but I think I definitely put a stamp in it today.”
Longo Borghini managed ninth in the sprint to maintain her spot atop the International Cycling Union Women’s WorldTour overall classification. Ludwig took back the blue youth classification jersey from compatriot Amalie Dideriksen. The road world champion and Ronde van Drenthe winner sat out the third round of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.
Rivera proved that she will be a rider to watch in the women’s WorldTour with Team Sunweb.
The 24-year-old spent the last few seasons with UnitedHealthcare while studying but once graduated, signed with the Dutch team to focus full time on racing and winning.
Rivera has won stages of Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen in the past two years but before Alfredo Binda success, was yet to taste victory in the WorldTour. The win was also Sunweb’s first victory of the season with the American dedicating the success to her teammates.
“We had a couple of different cards to play today. Both myself and my teammates tried our luck in getting in any potential race-deciding moves but it turned out that the race stayed together for a bunch sprint,” Rivera said.
“We kept fighting to stay in the front group and it paid off. I was really thankful to have the support of my team and especially Ellen [van Dijk] there with me, she came back over to me at the last climb and stayed with me through to the end. She was instrumental in the finale and I couldn’t have taken the victory without my team mates,” Rivera added.
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