Stage 3 of the 2023 Giro Donne saw Lorena Wiebes take the expected sprint victory that was earmarked for her the moment the route became known. At the end of 118.2km kilometres, a slightly altered finish saw Wiebes be the fastest ahead of Marianne Vos and Chloe Dygert. There’s no change in the overall standings with Annemiek van Vleuten still in the pink jersey after yesterday’s stage win.
Before the race, the finish was altered, maybe not physically but certainly for GC riders. Because of safety concerns, the GC times would be taken at the 1km to go banner rather than the finish. That was down to the pinch point between tall stone pillars entering a horse course in the middle of Modena. In the end, it was negotiated safely.
A flat day, the only hill of note was the Villabianca in the middle of the stage – Fem van Empel was the first rider over the climb but the next break saw Giorgia Vettorello, Asia Zontone and Alice Palazzi. They got a decent gap but the peloton was too keen for a sprint today and they were reeled back in. With the teams firing up their sprint trains once the 10km to go marker was passed.
DSM, Uno-X, Canyon SRAM, Jumbo Visma and others all set the pace but they used up their riders too early and it was SD Worx who had the ace left in Barbara Guarischi. She was able to guide Lorena Wiebes to the front and dropped her off with 150 metres to go. From there, there’s pretty much no one faster in the women’s peloton. Marianne Vos sat in her draft and comfortably took 2nd, with Chloe Dygert a couple of bike lengths further back. Letizia Paternoster was caught up in a crash metres from the line as Franziska Koch cut across Maria Martins who had nowhere to go.
“I only had to sprint for 150 meters. I am very happy with the stage win. The team worked hard. Elena Cecchini and Barbara Guarischi did a really good lead-out. We were a bit far back in the last kilometres, but I stayed with Barbara in her slipstream and she positioned me perfectly. She went into the last corner first, so I only had to sprint for 150 meters.
For the rest of the day, we had control. I’m happy to be back here and to win again. The Giro Donne is a very beautiful race to participate in. I did feel some pressure in the finale because I really want to win for the team and my teammate.”
Lorena Wiebes
2023 Giro Donne Stage 3 result
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