July 1/23 19:59 pm - Giro Donna: Stage 1

Posted by Editoress on 07/1/23
 

World champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) won the opening stage of the Giro Donne on Saturday in Marradi when she arrived solo to win by 45 seconds over a group of seven chasers. van Vleuten broke clear on the Passo della Colla to take her victory and the Pink Jersey. Stage 2 was the first stage after the opening Prologue was cancelled due to weather conditions.

The race began in Bagno a Ripoli and crossed the whole province of Florence. After the first 55 relatively flat kilometres, the road began to slightly rise at the intermediate sprint of Borgo San Lorenzo. The real key point of the segment was the Passo Della Colla, a second-tier climb of 16 kilometres.

After early breakaway attempts, the peloton reunited at the foothills of Passo della Colla, where Annemiek Van Vleuten launched her attack. The Dutch star was the first to cross the QoM and then launched herself downhill followed by Marta Cavalli (FDJ Suez) and Gaia Realini (Lidl Trek). During the descent the chase group reunited again, but could not catch van Vleuten. The sprint for second was won by Cecilie Uttrup (FDJ Suez) over Juliette Labous (Team DSM Firmenich).

“Today is a particularly special day because it is my hundredth victory in my career. It is amazing to have reached this goal in Italy at Giro Donne which is my favourite race. In recent weeks I worked hard in Livigno and I didn’t know how my legs would respond, but I felt confident uphill and I tried to attack. Honestly I didn’t expect to make so much difference, I tried during the hardest stretch and I thought that the other athletes would remain on my wheel but I gained a good margin instead, so during the descent I just had to keep it. From this moment on, the road is all uphill for me because the goal is to wear the pink jersey until the end.”

Stage 1 was cancelled due to weather