With her runner-up finish at the Women's WorldTour GP Plouay, Lizzie Banks (Ekip Paul Ca) has made a name for herself in the women's peloton. She had already made headlines by winning stage 8 of last year's Giro Rosa, but whereas that victory came on the back of a transitional stage breakaway, her performance in the Pluey put her in direct competition with the peloton's top riders.

Banks attacked with 35km to go and was soon joined by Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo); behind the two were road race world champion Annemiek van Fruten (Mitchelton Scott) and women's World Tour leader A group of 10 riders, including Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb), formed to chase Banks and Deignan, but the Yorkshire duo was unable to coordinate with the chasers and the two all-out sprinters, allowing the Yorkshire duo to reach the finish line. 'I gave it my all against Lizzie Deignan because I knew that if it didn't work out, I had a number of strong teammates in the pack behind me. Both were great options for a podium finish." At this point we didn't know if we would be able to get our move back, but we wanted to commit to it. In the sprint, we knew we had to start behind her. Of course, Lizzie had won in Plouay before, so that experience counted for a lot, and to finish second is a really great result for the Continental team."

A latecomer to cycling, Banks first joined Cyclosportive in early 2015 and quickly rose through the ranks until she signed a contract with UnitedHealthcare for 2018. Shortly before winning that contract, she had decided to abandon her medical studies to pursue a career in women's cycling. That decision paid off as she joined Vigra for 2019 after one season with UnitedHealthcare, where she achieved a string of impressive results. A stage win at the Giro Rosa was a highlight, but a GC podium at the prestigious Festival Elsie Jacobs and seventh overall in the Women's Tour confirmed her potential. In 2020, Banks got off to a good start in Setmana Valenciana and finished sixth in Omloop Het Niusbrod, but then the COVID-19 epidemic interrupted her season, as well as others. The resulting financial uncertainty meant that her team's title sponsor pulled out, and the team was renamed Ekip Paul Ka to reflect the new main partner. Banks rode into Plouay as the team leader, but probably flew under the radar because the team had several strong riders. One of them was Swiss champion Marlen Reusser, another latecomer to the women's peloton. As a youngster, Reusser was a runner, but an injury forced her to switch to swimming. Reusser played a key role in the race, leading the peloton at a high pace on the first of four laps of the GP de Plouët finishing circuit and then breaking away from the leaders. Her teammate Marlen Reusser was up front, and several riders were trying to catch her. When the big crash happened, Marlen was still off the front and I was among the riders trying to get to her. When Marlen got caught, I fought back. Dignan, a former world champion, had won Pull-I twice before and should have been considered the favorite in a sprint contest between the two, but Banks worked well with Dignan. In wet conditions reminiscent of their home town of Yorkshire, Banks and Dignan raced each other all the way to the finish straight. Whether the more cautious tactics of letting Dignan do most of the work led to Banks' victory remains to be seen, but the 29-year-old Banks is certainly one to watch in the coming races.