Building on an excellent season so far, Team DSM’s Women’s program have taken their ninth resounding win of the year at the Giro Donne in Italy.
After yesterday’s mountain time trial, the bunch were on open roads again today at the Giro Donne, with a predominantly flat 120 kilometres from Milan to Carugate to contend with. As in previous stages, there were a few attempts early in the day to make it into the break but no move was allowed to escape, before one rider eventually hit out solo after 50 kilometres. A group of five set off in pursuit, managing to bridge the gap to the lone leader and forming a group of six which held a one minute advantage over the bunch, where all Team DSM riders were.
The gap to those out front increased to over two minutes and the team took up the onus in the peloton, beginning to set a steady tempo and reel in the break. After some strong riding by Floortje Mackaij and Liane Lippert, alongside some other sprint teams, the gap had fallen to only 30 seconds with 15 kilometres to go. One lone rider tried to hold off the charging peloton but the inevitable catch was made as the sprint trains jostled for position.
Taking command of the front of the bunch in the final two kilometres, Juliette Labous used her strong legs to hold onto a good position before passing over to Leah Kirchmann. Upping the speed, Kirchmann made sure that no one could get past the team’s train and delivered last pilot-fish Coryn Rivera at 450 metres to go. Rivera used all of her experience to hold the inside line and force others the long way around, dropping Wiebes off perfectly at 150 metres to go. With the road opening up in front of her, Wiebes was able to produce her trademark powerful sprint all the way to the line, sitting up and raising her arms aloft in jubilation after taking the win.
“The team did such a good job the whole stage, keeping control of things,” beamed Wiebes at the finish. “We once again did a super lead out. After the last corner the girls put the speed really high, especially Coryn in the finale, so that I only had to sprint for the last 150 metres: it was amazing. We have a really strong team here so we’ll keep fighting for more stage wins at the race.”
Team DSM coach Albert Timmer added: “Once again it was a really nice day for us. Floortje and Liane did a good job in controlling the race earlier and making sure it came back for a sprint finish. Then the lead out worked perfectly and went exactly like we had planned. We can be very proud of how we worked together today and to round that off with a stage win is great. We’ll keep hunting for more good results in the days to come.”
RESULTS
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WIEBES Lorena | Team DSM | 2:49:15 | 25 |
| 2 | NORSGAARD Emma | Movistar Team | ,, | 20 |
| 3 | VOS Marianne | Team Jumbo-Visma Women | ,, | 15 |