After 2 stages in a row where she has finished in 11th place, Emilia Fahlin is comfortably the best placed of the Swedish cyclists. The end of the first 3 stages provides a natural break in the race, with the peloton leaving the island of Sardinia and heading to the mainland ready for Monday’s 4th stage.
Emilia Fahlin, from Örebro cyclist, found herself 11th once more at the finish in the coastal town of Olbia today. She is now in 27th place overall, a respectable 35 seconds behind leader Elisa Balsamo. The Swede was 42nd on first stage time trial but hasn’t lost any further time in GC since then, other than the stage end bonus seconds. After the three Sardinia stages, Fahlin can be pleased.
“I am very happy with my own efforts so far. That I dare to take out the elbows again when it contracts in the endings”
Emilia Fahlin, told to vargardacycling.se
Most had expected Fahlin’s teammate Clara Copponi to be higher in the sprints but Fahlin, whose role would normally be to lead out her sprinter, has taken the team’s best results. Monday’s stage has a punchy climb near the finish and is earmarked for punchers like Vos and GC contenders like Van Vleuten. This may not suit Fahlin as much but she will get other opportunities, including Tuesday’s Stage 5.
“We will see how the team management reasons for the future and maybe I can get a slightly more open role than being an assignment for others in the team. In any case, I feel in good shape.”
Emilia Fahlin
There are two other Swedish riders in the Giro Donne. Hanna Nilsson of Ceratizit-WNT is 52 seconds behind the Maglia Rosa in 55th place and Wilma Olausson is around 3 minutes behind Balsamo in 132nd.
The Giro Donne resumes in Cesena on Monday.
