July 2/23 16:01 pm - Wiebes beats Vos & Dygert for Stage 3 of Giro Donne

Posted by Editoress on 07/2/23
 

European champion Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) won the first sprint finish of Giro Donne 2023 in Stage 3. The 118 kilometre stage from Formigine to Modena saw numerous attacks under hot conditions.

The early part of the race saw an attack by four riders: Matilde Vitillo (BePink-Gold), Iris Monticolo (Top girls Fassa Bortolo), Sofia Rodriguez (Bizkaia Durango), Noemi Lucrezia Eremita (GB Junior Team Piemonte). They managed to extend the gap to 1:10 before the peloton reunited near the QoM of Marano sul Panaro, which Fem Van Empel (Jumbo Visma) crossed first, followed by Marta Cavalli (FDJ-Suez).

After the descent, a new attack attempt animated the race: Giorgia Vettorello (BePink-Gold), Asia Zontone (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria) and Alice Palazzi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) succeeded in gaining 1:25 before getting caught 11 kilometres from the line.

At that point, the sprinter-focused teams such as Uno X, Team DSM and SD Worx moved to the front. As announced before the stage, in the final kilometre the time scores for the final ranking were paused, so as to ensure greater safety for the racing athletes right before and during the narrow passage placed at about 800 m from arrival.

Lorena Wiebes stated, "Today I am extremely happy for the victory; the last time I won at Giro was two years ago. The team did an incredible job because from the beginning of the stage they tried to keep the race closed, keeping the various attack attempts under control. Barbara Guarischi was perfect because she brought me to the last curve in the best possible position. What I had to do was just to put all the strength I had left for the final 50 metres.”

Pink Jersey leader Annemiek Van Vleuten commented, "It was a great first day in pink despite the great heat. I think that the choice to neutralise the time scores on the last kilometre was right, the road tightened and the safety of athletes always comes first. Such an arrival could never have affected the overall ranking, but if we had been there surely it would have become more dangerous. Congratulations to the organisation for making the right decision."

Top Canadian, Magdeleine Vallieres Mill (EF Education - Tibco - SVB) fi nished 104th on the stage in the same time as the winner and sits 119th overall at 11:46 back

Giro Donna: Stage 2 Stage 1 cancelled by weather