17th January – Stage 1: Brighton – Snapper Point
The 2025 season got underway on Friday with a rolling route, but one that one paper should have suited the sprinters. However, in the second half of the day attacks flew from the bunch and Hengeveld escaped solo. With the peloton easing off the pace initially, Hengeveld built up what would be an unassailable lead despite a frantic chase by the peloton the finale. For Team Picnic PostNL, Rachele Barbieri showed good speed to get up and take fifth place in the sprint from the main bunch.
Speaking after the stage road captain Eleonora Ciabocco said: “We raced well from the start and stayed together as a team, which was really good. The race exploded a bit on the climb but Rachele was strong to stay in the front part of the peloton so we stuck with her and tried to focus on the final but Hengeveld held on for the win. It was pretty chaotic in the peloton and we tried to wait until the last kilometre but it was crazy and hard to move up. Rachele launched her sprint early from behind and in the end took a top five which is something we can build on here.”