Nina Berton Takes Home Podium at Festival Elsy Jacobs in Cessange

Luxembourg road cyclist Nina Berton claimed a home podium on Sunday 3 May 2026, finishing third in the Festival Elsy Jacobs à Luxembourg, the UCI category 1.1 women's one-day race run over 121.6 km with its start and finish in Cessange, Luxembourg City.

The 24-year-old, who rides for the EF Education-Oatly trade team, took the bronze medal in a sprint from an eight-rider breakaway. Britain's Erin Boothman, riding for the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental Team, won the dash to the line for her first professional victory, with Switzerland's Steffi Häberlin of Team SD Worx-Protime taking second.

Into the move with three laps left

The decisive selection came roughly 45 to 55 km from the finish, with about three laps of the Cessange circuit remaining, when a group of eight riders went clear of the field. Berton was not part of the move when it first formed, but chased across on her own to make contact, a solo effort she said she judged was worth the gamble.

Je n'étais pas dans l'échappée au début, je savais que c'était un coup intéressant donc j'ai fait l'effort seule pour rentrer.

For Berton, racing in this company without team support meant adapting to a different kind of effort. As she put it, learning to read a race and commit alone has become part of the job.

Dans une échappée, tu n'as pas besoin de coéquipières.

A home result in the national jersey

Born on 3 August 2001 in Luxembourg City, Berton competed in this race in a combined Luxembourg-Iceland national selection rather than her trade-team colours. Taking a podium on roads she knows well clearly carried extra weight for her.

C'est toujours beau de courir dans ce maillot à la maison.

According to Le Quotidien, the result was a welcome turnaround after Berton had been frustrated a day earlier at the companion event in Garnich, held on 2 May and won by Marta Lach. The Cessange race was the second of the two Festival Elsy Jacobs one-day races staged that weekend.

Boothman's breakthrough sprint

At the front, the win went to a 19-year-old in only the early stages of her professional career. As reported by Cyclingnews, Boothman produced an electric sprint to land her first career victory, edging Häberlin and Berton in the run to the line.

The Festival Elsy Jacobs takes its name from the Luxembourg cyclist Elsy Jacobs, an Olympic and world champion, and remains a fixture of the women's road calendar in the Grand Duchy. For Berton, a place on the podium at the festival that celebrates her country's most decorated rider made the day one to remember.

Berton spoke about the race in an interview with DirectVelo, published on 7 May 2026, in which she reflected on learning to race on her own at the front of an international field.