The pink jersey wins her third stage in Alassio over Labous and Realini
We applauded her yesterday on the ramps of Canelli, today Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team) struck again, dominating the seventh stage, her third victory in this edition. The final climb was decisive for the pink jersey, where she pulled ahead of Juliette Labous (Team DSM) and Gaia Realini (Lidl Trek).
During the tour’s one-day stopover in Liguria, the group cycled for 110 km from Albenga to Alassio in a truly spectacular segment including four Mountain Grand Prix including a final one right before the finish line. The last 15 kilometres were the most challenging with a second-tier and a third-tier Mountain Grand Prix.
The group departed in Albenga and cycled up to Passo del Ginestro where the Jumbo Visma imposed a strong forcing on the group. Elena Pirrone (Israel Premier Tech) was the first to pass the Mountain Grand Prix and scored the first real attack attempt of the day, gaining up to 50″ of upper hand over the group. The fugue of the athlete from Bolzano was then suppressed on the next climb, called Il Vigneto (the vineyard).
About 40 km from the finish line, Anouska Koster (Uno X Pro Cycling Team) scored an interesting attack causing a reaction in the pink jersey’s team. It was Annemiek Van Vleuten himself who raised the pace and made the selection. Only Juliette Labous and Gaia Realini managed to hold the wheel of the world champion while Veronica Ewers lost ground after holding the second position in the overall ranking this morning.
For several kilometres Realini, Labous and Van Vleuten remained together in the lead until, about 1.5 km from the finish line, the world champion engaged in an incredible forcing action, pulling ahead of the opponents and managing to reach the finish line all alone. It is victory number 102 in her career: the world champion is increasingly dominating the Giro Donne.
Tomorrow the tour will take a day off for the caravan to reach Sardinia, where the last two stages will take place.
The words of the winner and pink jersey Annemiek Van Vleuten: «I’m really happy with this victory because I think it was first and foremost a success for the team. The girls were great because they worked from the beginning of the stage to defend the jersey, they were awesome. In the end I think I was in the right position because I was with Gaia and Juliette who had the opportunity to reach the podium of the overall ranking and therefore they climbed very fast. Today we went through some wonderful landscapes, too bad that I couldn’t fully enjoy them because I was too focused on the race».
Giro d’Italia Donne Press Office- Giorgia Monguzzi- monguzzi.gio@gmail.com +393312401918
STARLIGHT SOCIETÀ SPORTIVA DILETTANTISTICA SSD a R.L. | V. XXV Aprile, 22/F 42013 Salvaterra (RE) – Tel 0522/1751566 Fax 0522/1751565
Today’s stage podium:
- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team) 03:07:52
- Juliette Labous (Team Dsm) 0:13
- Gaia Realini (Lidl Trek) 0:20
Overall ranking:
- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Team Movistar) 18:06:11
- Juliette Labous (Team Dsm Firmenich) 3:56”
- Gaia Realini (Lidl Trek) 4:25”
The jerseys:
- – Pink Jersey (Italian Cycling Foundation)- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team)
- – Cyclamen Jersey (Trenitalia) – Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team)
- – Green Jersey (Scaligera Arredamenti)- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team)
- – White Jersey (Wurth)- Gaia Realini (Lidl Trek)
- – Blue Jersey (Il Messaggero) – Gaia Realini (Lidl Trek) Link below to download all material about the seventh stage such as rankings, route details and official pictures (credit by Massimo Fulgenzi- Sprint Cycling Agency)
