Neve Bradbury secured a notable Women’s World Tour win today on the gruelling Blockhaus queen stage of the Giro d’Italia. With over 3700 metres of elevation gain, the 22-year-old Canyon SRAM rider excelled, climbing to third in the general classification and seizing the Best Young Rider classification from her teammate Antonia Niedermaier, who finished fifth. It’s the 2nd WWT victory of the season for the Aussie rider who also took a win recently at the Tour de Suisse.
The 123km stage was raced in intense heat, reducing the peloton to about 25 riders on the first ascent of Passo Lanciano. Early on, Claire Steels made an escape attempt but was reeled in at the foot of the first climb. The first ascent saw the peloton thinned considerably, leaving a select group at the summit, including Elisa Longo Borghini and Lotte Kopecky.
On the second ascent, Bradbury launched her first attack with 14km remaining, joined briefly by Pauliena Rooijakkers before both were caught by Longo Borghini. A final attack from Bradbury on the 17km Blockhaus climb proved decisive, as she created a gap that no one could close, crossing the finish line solo.
Meanwhile, Lotte Kopecky of SD Worx-ProTime showed her strength by finishing second, only one second behind Longo Borghini in the general classification after gaining six bonus seconds. Kopecky and Longo Borghini battled closely on the final climb, with Kopecky launching a late attack but being unable to shake the race leader as they drenched themselves in any water available on the climb.
The penultimate stage saw riders like Justine Ghekiere of AG Insurance–Soudal excel in the mountains classification, taking the blue jersey when Clara Emond left the race. Ghekiere captured crucial points on the climbs and managed to extend her new lead in the classification.
Post-Stage Reactions
Neve Bradbury expressed her delight: “I’m really happy with today’s stage. We knew that Antonia and I had good legs and had been riding strongly in the Giro. We wanted an aggressive race with no regrets, which played well for us. I was on the limit when I attacked, but you have to try. I had tried once before, but then Pauliena came across, and we were caught. The pace dropped, and Maggy (Bäckstedt) encouraged me to go again. I got a bit of a run-up and saw, okay, maybe I have a gap.”
Bradbury continued: “I was focused only on the stage win, but then the gap got bigger, which I knew might also change the GC. By then I just went as hard as I could to the finish line. I got a lot of cheering from the team on the radio and the staff on the side of the road. It was pretty cool. The climb is brutal. It’s the hardest race I’ve done. If you had told me four years ago after winning Zwift Academy that I could win a stage of the Giro, I would not have believed it!”
Magnus Bäckstedt praised Bradbury’s effort, saying, “I’m not sure where to start with that win. We had a good plan and wanted to race aggressively with Neve and then save for Antonia to be able to play it more cool and reserved. Neve smashed it out of the park. She took the climb on a steep section and took off like a rocket. Being able to hold that against Longo Borghini, Rooijakkers and Kopecky chasing behind is an awe-inspiring ride by Neve.”
Lotte Kopecky remarked on her performance: “1 second difference is a bit sour. I did everything I could to take the pink jersey, but Elisa was just really strong today. One stage remains, so it will be an exciting battle on Sunday. It has already been three tough stages and the final stage also promises to be tough with a nice finale. Lidl-Trek will do everything to eliminate the bonification seconds. I rode a strong Giro so far, we’ll see tomorrow if I manage to win the pink jersey.”
Anna van der Breggen, sports director for SD Worx-ProTime, highlighted Kopecky’s efforts: “This was incredibly strong from Lotte. With the climb over the Blockhaus twice, this stage was even tougher than the Tourmalet. The directive was simple: try to follow as long as possible. We knew that Elisa Longo-Borghini would go on the attack, the key was to follow and see how far you get. Lotte said beforehand: I’ve never climbed this long before, I don’t know what that’s like. After today, she can’t say that anymore (laughs). She did super well. This was a very strong performance. This is a victory in itself. If you start with the ambition to chase stages, and one day from the end you are one second from the overall victory… That can also be seen as a victory. If you can follow Elisa Longo-Borghini in such a tough stage, you are among the best climbers in the world. So this is an insane performance, which promises a lot towards the future.”
Justine Ghekiere shared her joy after securing the mountains jersey: “After a few tough weeks, I can’t describe how happy I am to take this mountains jersey. Yesterday, I was involved in a crash and had to spend a long time in the hospital, making me think today would be terrible. In the end, my legs were fine; I really had the power and gave it everything I had. I went all out for the points and managed to get them. I even managed to save some energy for tomorrow and hope I can take this jersey home.”
The riders now face a challenging final stage tomorrow from Pescara to L’Aquila, which promises to be another day of intense competition with the GC up for grabs.
2024 Giro d’Italia Women Stage 7 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
All photo credits: La Presse
