Our Women’s program were back in action today at the Giro dell’Emilia and it’s famous hilltop finish on San Luca. With a predominantly flat parcours before the climb it was difficult for any breakaway to establish itself at the head of the race, with a few small moves getting away before a duo finally got clear. Building up only a one and a half minute lead, the peloton were always in control and caught the attackers inside the final ten kilometres.
This resulted in an incredibly fast finale as everyone wanted to be near the front, with the team riding well to position Liane Lippert at the head of the peloton before the climb. An unfortunate crash would string the bunch out and cause some splits as the race charged towards the climb. With it full gas from the bottom of the climb, Lippert was first across the line on what was the team’s first race back since their recent team altitude camp in Kühtai.
Speaking after the finish Lippert said: “The first part of the race was pretty fast and there were some attacks. We were always present and covered those moves. The team did a really good job in keeping me out of the wind the whole day so I could save some energy. It was great to race again and have the support and trust of my teammates. They also did a great effort going into the final climb, even though it was really chaotic and there were a lot of crashes. The final kilometre before the climb was full gas and we made it onto the climb in a good position, but the pace was extra high on the first steep part. It flattened out a bit and I tried to recover from the first effort but when the really steep part started I completely exploded. I couldn’t go any faster. For sure I’m disappointed and that’s not what we aimed for today but it was still great to race again and have my teammates around me. Now I’m just looking forward to what’s next.”
Team Sunweb coach Albert Timmer added: “Thankfully we managed to avoid the crashes in the finale which was good. We had a good plan for the race and the team did a good job of positioning throughout the day. Going onto the last climb we made a few mistakes which meant we missed out on a good result on the day, but we have some learning points from today that we’ll take with us into the next races.”
RESULTS
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup | FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope | 2:10:44 | 200 |
| 2 | LELEIVYTĖ Rasa | Aromitalia Vaiano | 0:11 | 150 |
| 3 | ROOIJAKKERS Pauliena | CCC – Liv | ,, | 125 |