Elise Uichen won the fourth stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, marking the 19-year-old's breakthrough victory.

She was in the breakaway group on stage 3, and after a series of last minute attacks, made another decisive move midway through stage 4.

Clearly one of the strongest climbers in the 16-man breakaway group, the young Dutch rider led the effort on the final climb and eventually, along with Justin Gekier (AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick Step), who she beat in the final sprint in Gandia She escaped.

"Today I was really thinking about racing as a team, attacking and trying to win the stage," she said.

"In the end, after a lot of attacks, I was able to get into the pack. I knew I could go for the stage win, so I did the best I could. At the end it was a sprint with the other riders, but I was able to ride to the end."

This win was the biggest result of her career as she moved from the elite class to Team DSM in her second year as a professional.

"I'm really happy for the team to get my first professional win," she said.

As well as being a big win for Wien, this victory was DSM's first non-bunch sprint win of 2023.

Charlotte Coull's two wins in the UAE Tour proved to fill Lorena Wiebes' hole in the sprint team, but with the absence of Florche Mackay and Liane Lippert (both moved to Movistar), the stage race team has yet to be tested. not yet tested.

Besides Juliette Labouse, Team DSM's climbing and GC hopes rest on a very young group of riders. In Valenciana, half of the team was under 20 years old, and Uyen was not even the youngest on the team.

The team came close to a big result in the second stage, sprinting into third place behind Megan Jastrab's winning Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo), but what really boosted the team's time in Valencia was Uyen's two difficult stages over the weekend. performance in the two challenging stages of the weekend.

"We were able to put the cherry on the cake here," said Uyen. We really put something on the board this week."

DSM coach Kelvin Decker was similarly pleased with the result and alluded to the team's rebuilding efforts for the upcoming season.

"It's great to end the week with a big win," he said. It's a sweet feeling because it's not just a win this week, it's a win that's been a process throughout the preseason."