Josie Talbot takes first Women’s WorldTour win on stage 3 of Tour of Chongming Island as Anne Knijnenburg takes GC

With the overall battle so tight the competition in the 111.4km stage heated up well before the finish line. There was no holding back in the three intermediate sprints – 29.5km, 53.9km and 76km into the race – given the bonus time the top three placings bought with them, three seconds for first, two for second and one for third.

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Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) swept up top points in the first with Sofie van Rooijen second and Kathrin Schweinberger (Human Powered Health) third. In the second Balsamo again triumphed but Georgia Baker settled into second this time.

Third time round Mia Griffin took the three second bonus with Balsamo next and Schweinberger completing her clean sweep of the day’s third placings in the intermediate sprints.

The break attempts, large groups and small, came and went through the day of racing with splits and launches aplenty but with what was at stake the efforts to haul riders back in were as relentless as the attack efforts. A solo attack by Laura Lizette Sander (Team Coop Repsol) was pulled back at around 10km to go and it wasn’t long before another of her teammates went but the peloton just keep stalking and pouncing on what seemed to be on the constant procession of riders making moves.

The powerful group of ten that leapt off the front within the final kilometres however proved to be predator and not prey. They hauled out the gap and then spread wide across the road as they charged to the line to divvy up the spoils. Talbot was the one who had to pace and timing to claim the biggest prize, a first WorldTour win.