A Photo-Finish Sprint Closes Out the 2021 Giro Donne

From July 2nd through July 11th, the Giro Rosa returns under a new name, Giro d'Italia Donne. The women's teams rolled out in aero helmets and skinsuits from the town of Fossano, with squads of six riders embarking on a 10-day trek across Northern Italy with all eyes on defending champion Anna van der Breggen.

Read below for stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights.

2021 Giro Donne Photo Gallery

Stage 10 : A photo-finish sprint closes out Giro Donne

Sunday's race marked the final stage of the Giro Donne, with 113km of mountainous racing and a slight descent into the finish in Cormons. While SD Worx seemed to have locked down the overall podium with Anna van der Breggen, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, and Demi Vollering, the stage itself was up for grabs. After a long breakaway ride, it was US American Coryn Rivera (Team DSM) who took the stage in a photo-finish sprint with Trek Segafredo's Lizzie Deignan. Elise Chabbey from Canyon SRAM came in third place.

The winning breakaway

The racing was intense, with a small early crash and a five-woman breakaway in the first 24km. Van der Breggen, Chabbey, Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo), Rivera, and Deignan formed a strong attacking group, building up a steady gap of around 45 seconds.

Powerhouses of the race made their way to the front, attacking over the climbs, trying to chase down the five riders at the front. The peloton split behind them as the climbs and attacks made it hard for riders to stay together.

32 kilometers to go

As the race entered the final 32km and last circuit into Cormons, the gap began to lower to the group as the depleted peloton worked hard to catch them. But with five of the top riders in the race in the breakaway (and their respective teams, SD Worx, Trek Segafredo, and Team DSM, likely doing little to bridge the gap), the five riders continued to maintain their lead with the Movistar team led the chase.

With 11km to go, the gap had grown back to over a minute. In the lead group, Brand began to fall off the pace of the group. Meanwhile, LIV Racing's Sofia Bertizzolo attacked and created a small gap but was quickly reeled in on the final climb. In the front, Deignan, Rivera, van der Breggen, and Chabbey maintained their lead of 56 seconds with 5 miles to go.

The gap continued to ebb and flow as riders hit the final descent, with only 30 seconds separating the leaders from the chasing peloton. It became clear with a mile to go that the race would come down to a four-up sprint.

The final sprint

Chabbey set the pace heading into the finish, followed by Deignan, Rivera, and van der Breggen. Deignan and Rivera came in for the sprint together, both throwing their bikes at the line. Rivera took the win by inches over the Trek-Segafredo rider, and Chabbey and van der Breggen followed the two.

Behind them, Emma Norsgaard of Movistar took the bunch sprint in the peloton onto 30 seconds behind.

The General Classification

In the overall race results from the last 10 days of racing, van der Breggen maintained her GC lead and overall win, with teammates Moolman-Pasio and Vollering behind her, followed by Lizzie Deignan. SDWorx also scored an overall win in the youth classification with Niamh Fisher-Black. Lucinda Brand took the mountain classification, and—with Jumbo Visma's Marianne Vos leaving the race early for Olympic prep—the points classification was won by van der Breggen, with Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) in second.

It's nice to see teams still having fun after more than a thousand kilometers of racing:

Check back tomorrow for our race recap and what we learned as riders head into the Olympics!

Stage 9: SD Worx sweeps the podium once more

The penultimate stage of the 2021 Giro Donne featured more than 2,200 meters of climbing and three classified climbs, with the 'queen' stage finishing on the Monte Matajur at an altitude of 1,267 meters. With only one day of racing left following today's 122.5km mountain stage, riders really felt the climbs in their legs as they battled it out to the summit finish. It was SD Worx' Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio who took her first Giro stage win after a long day on the break—followed by teammates Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen.

“Wow, it really feels so amazing. This is my 10th Giro and I’ve never won a stage — I’ve only ever finished second,” Moolman Pasio said. “And so, second on GC is special so is to win a stage.”

How the race unfolded

With many riders leaving the race due to crashes, COVID19 positives, and choosing to prepare for the Olympics, the whittled-down peloton started the hilly stage in sunny weather in Tavagnacco. Early on, a group of three riders—Letizia Borghesi (Aromitalia), Asia Zontone (Serveto), Giorgia Vettorello (Top Girls)—formed a break and labored a gap of over three minutes to the peloton. With 48km to the finish, the three-rider breakaway maintained their gap heading into the first of two real climbs, but the ascend quickly wore the riders down, getting caught by the peloton soon after.

The Stregna

Trek Segafredo's Elisa Longo Borghini was the first to make it over the Stregna climb, followed by SD Worx' Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. The two attacked, quickly building a gap of one minute on the peloton, which had begun to shrink as riders faded off the back. With 19km to go, a couple of chasers—Anouska Koster of Jumbo Visma and Marta Bastianelli of Ale BTC Ljubljana—tried to bridge the duo ahead who held a 2’27” time gap.

The Monte Matajur

As riders began the 14km climb to the finish, Bastianelli and Koster were reeled back in, and the gap to Moolman-Pasio and Longo Borghini dropped to 1’30”. The chasing peloton was down to 20 riders, including current GC leader Anna Van der Breggen (SD Worx).

Moolman-Pasio attacks

With 8km to go, Moolman-Pasio went on the attack, growing a gap to 34 seconds over Longo Borghini, though the gap closed back to 15 seconds at 6km to go. Meanwhile, the lead group of 13 riders was only 1’10” behind—enough to preserve van der Breggen's GC lead.

In the final kilometers, Moolman-Pasio extended her lead to nearly 2 minutes ahead of the leaders and 1’12” to Longo Borghini. Longo Borghini was caught by van der Breggen and her teammate Demi Vollering, Trek-Segafredo's Lizzie Deignan, and Marta Cavalli (FDJ).

Moolman-Pasio maintained her lead and took her first stage win of the Giro Donne at the top of the climb. This is the first successful attack and breakaway attempt that the race has seen and perfectly showcased Moolman-Pasio's climbing prowess.

First place was followed by teammates Vollering and van der Breggen for an SD Worx podium sweep. Behind them, Cavalli and Deignan rounded out the top five.

Giro Donne Twitter-verse

In the Giro Donne Twitter-verse, teams have been doing a great job sharing insider looks at the race. In fact, with no live television coverage of the race, the team reports and journalists at the race live-tweeting on Twitter were the only way to follow the stage in real time.

Fans were not impressed:

Nor were teams, who couldn't even get info on race radio:

But teams also had fun with it, showing behind-the-scenes moments from the race. Want to see what life looks like as a soigneur in the feed zone? It's a high-drama job!

In the General Classification, SD Worx continues their podium sweep with Anna van der Breggen, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, and Demi Vollering in the top three positions. Lizzie Deignan of Trek Segafredo is the closest behind them, almost six minutes down from the pink jersey.

Check back in tomorrow for the final stage of the Giro Donne, 112.7km of mountainous racing with a slight descent into the finish in Cormons. While it seems likely that van der Breggen will defend the Maglia Rosa—pink jersey—anything can happen! Watch the action on GCN Race Pass.

Stage 8: Brave Attacks, Then a “Messy” Sprint Finish

The flat, fast 129km Giro Donne stage from San Vendemiano to Mortegliano saw attacks early in the race, but eventually came down to a bunch sprint won by Lorena Wiebes from Team DSM. Dane Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) came in second, and Italian Maria Sperotto (A.R.Monex) was third.

But the race itself wasn't the only cause for drama in the Giro Donne today: Unfortunately, two teams, Tibco-SVB and Bizkaia-Durango had to withdraw from the race due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Trek-Segafredo's Ruth Winder, the first rider to wear the pink jersey in this edition of the Giro Donne, also announced that this would be her last season as a pro racer this morning:

How the race unfolded

In the first few miles of the race, Rally Cycling's Heidi Franz and several other riders tested the peloton's strength with some early attacks. None stuck, and the group stayed mostly together for the first 40km.

However, Anastasia Carbonari (Born to Win) launched an attack that finally stuck, growing a gap of a minute on the chase group. She was joined by her teammate Natalia Studenikina and Top Girls' Giorgio Vettorello, and the three riders grew the gap to over three minutes with only 48km of racing left on the stage.

The breakaway

As the race came into the final 32km, the three-woman group's lead was down to 2:35 and steadily dropping, with Movistar and Team DSM on the front driving the pace. At 21km, the gap had reduced to 1:30, but the three women in the front still worked hard to maintain their lead. By 12km to go, the gap had whittled to 40 seconds, with Movistar leading the charge, and only a few miles to go.

The break was caught with 6.4km to the finish after a strong effort from the Born to Win and Top Girls' riders. With just a few miles of racing to go, the top sprint teams started moving towards the front to get into optimal sprint position for the day.

Riders crash

A small crash in the back with two BikeExchange riders including team leader Amanda Spratt happened with only three miles to go. The crash didn't slow the pace though, and the racers swarmed towards the finish. Movistar continued to lead the stage, getting into position for sprinter Emma Norsgaard, who took a sprint win earlier in the race.

The sprint leadout

Team DSM's leadout train moved into position with Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) covering the move. With 500 meters to go, Team DSM's Coryn Rivera launched the sprint, then teammate Lorena Wiebes moved to the front and handily took her second stage win of the race, followed by Norsgaard and AR Monex' Maria Vittoria Sperotto.

"It was a really fast one today, a messy sprint, but Coryn came in at perfect timing so I could then go full gas at the finish," said Wiebes.

The penultimate stage

Tomorrow's stage—the penultimate stage in the Giro Donne—will cover 122.5km and finish at the top of Mount Matajur, at a whopping 1,124 meters higher than the start. However, there will be fewer racers in the peloton chasing stage wins, as riders like Marianne Vos finished with stage 8 in order to begin Olympic preparations.

Stage races in Olympic years are often impacted by riders dropping out, and the same is happening to the Tour de France at the moment. Nevertheless, the riders who are staying to the finish will certainly put on an excellent show, and Vos's departure leaves the points jersey up for grabs.

Game recognizes game

And finally, on the note of the Tour de France, shout out to Mark Cavendish as he's working towards getting the most stage wins of any rider in the Tour, but took a break from posting about his own racing to celebrate Vos's 30th Giro Donne win, saying on Instagram, "Marianne Vos has just won her 30th stage of the race. This NEEDS to be big news. 30 is such a milestone. She’s been my inspiration on so many levels, for so many years. The absolute GOAT."

Stage 7: Vos Plays It Smart in Uphill Sprint

With six circuits and one steep climb, the seventh stage of the Giro Donne was rife with attacks and breakaways early on. But it came down to a reduced peloton, a series of brutal attacks in the final three kilometers, and Marianne Vos's sprint know-how that netted the Jumbo Visma rider her 30th Giro Donne stage win.

The breakaway

With only 34 kilometers to the finish, Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) continued to hold a 1:15 gap from her solo attack she launched an hour earlier. Small chase groups from the peloton emerged trying to bridge the gap up to Brand, and a group including Coryn Rivera (Team DSM), Leah Thomas (Movistar), and Alexis Ryan (Canyon SRAM) finally bridged up to Brand pulling the peloton along.

The counter-attacks

With 22.5 kilometers to go and heading into the final lap of the circuit, LIV Racing's Marta Jasulska launched an attack, forcing the peloton to speed up as she increased her advantage to several seconds before being swarmed by the group. Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx) was the next to shoot off, and though she wasn't able to make a solo break, her effort on the final climb began to separate and spread out the peloton.

SD Worx' Ashleigh Moolman Pasio was the next to attack and was chased instantly by rival teams hoping for a sprint finish, including Team DSM and Trek Segafredo. After her, it was a déjà vu moment as Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon SRAM) and Grace Brown (BikeExchange) attempted an attack that was also reeled in quickly. But attacks continued to come as the peloton surged to keep up. While attacks didn't stick, they served to break up the peloton. In other sprint stages, the finish was 80+ riders strong, but with less than 13 kilometers to the finish, this peloton was significantly reduced thanks to the earlier surges.

A pepper of attacks marked the final kilometers. Liane Lippert (Team DSM) moved to the front to control the pace, and Rivera swung far to the right of the road to attack. Cromwell countered her move, but neither attack stuck.

Next to go was Marta Bastianelli (Ale BTC Ljubljana), who managed to create an 11-second separation before the group began to chase in earnest. Jeanne Korevaar of LIV attacked the group to chase Bastianelli, but the peloton started to bring the gap to Bastianelli back down. She was caught with 5.6 kilometers to go.

With less than 5km to go, the group was back together, and teams began to pull towards the front and get into sprint formation for optimal leadouts in the slightly uphill finish. Team DSM, Trek Segafredo, and Jumbo Visma controlled the front as the race wound through a few swooping corners in the final three kilometers.

The final climb

Heading into the final climb of the race, rain started to fall on the riders, but the pace continued to pick up as Brand controlled the head of the race, her face clearly showing the effort she put in before pulling off the front. Cromwell attacked up the side, climbing in earnest, but was quickly caught by Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek Segafredo), who then instantly attacked, with Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) and Rivera on her wheel. Vos and Longo Borghini managed to create a small gap to Rivera with 700 meters to go as they began to fight towards the finish.

Longo Borghini was unable to shed Vos from her wheel, and at 150 meters to go, Vos attacked, taking the win and her 30th Giro Donne stage win while Longho Borghini managed to hold on to her gap for second place. Anna Van der Breggen and Demi Vollering of SD Worx finished in third and fourth.

"It's an incredible number of stage wins, but I wasn't thinking about it," Vos said. "Every day, you have to be out and ready to focus and fight. My team is inspirational, helping to get me in this ride and focused to win again."

The General Classification

In the General Classification, Van der Breggen still remains hard to beat—while she's not contending for sprint stage wins, she is ensuring that she's comfortably in the lead peloton in order to finish with no impact on her overall lead time. SD Worx also continues to hold the top three podium spots in the GC. Van der Breggen's teammate Fisher-Black continues to lead the youth classification, while Vos now leads the points competition.

Racers and team staff are starting to feel the exhausting effects of stage racing:

There are only three stages left, and they're all worth watching: Stage 8 from San Vendemiano to Mortegliano covers a flat 130km, so will almost certainly end in a sprint.

How to watch

Most days, the live stream begins between 8 and 9 a.m. EST on GCN Race Pass (available in selected territories). Cycling fans worldwide can help make a case for bringing better coverage to women's racing by tuning in each day to catch the end of the race. Highlights and rider interviews can also be found on YouTube.

Stage 6: Emma Norsgaard Wins Tight Sprint in Colico

The sixth stage of the Giro Donne raced around Lake Cuomo in Northern Italy, where a motivated peloton reeled in a long attack by Trek-Segafredo's Elisa Longo Borghini and SD Worx' Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. But it was Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) who scored her first Giro Donne stage win over Team DSM's Coryn Rivera and Lotto Jumbo's Marianne Vos in a breathtaking sprint finish.

Livestream debacle

In the longest stage of the race—155 kilometers around Lake Cuomo—the riders were outpacing organizers' predictions for how quickly they'd ride the stage, nearly causing a debacle around the livestream that shows the final 15 km of racing. In fact, the broadcast was due to begin at 9:15 a.m. ET but was moved a whopping 45 minutes earlier to 8:30 AM to account for how speedy the riders were pedaling.

How the race unfolded

After more than 120km of racing, Trek-Segafredo's Elisa Borghini and SD Worx' Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio continued to lead the race in a two-woman breakaway, with a gap of around 1:20. Longo Borghini began the attack at around 60 kilometers into the race and was quickly joined by Moolman-Pasio. The two worked together, eventually gaining an advantage of over two minutes on the peloton behind them, though the peloton began to chase in earnest as the finish line drew closer.

Today's stage included plenty of tunnels through the mountains around Lake Cuomo, prompting the women of Jumbo Visma to add headlights to their bikes. Movistar captured this cool shot heading into one of the tunnels:

The pink jersey

In the peloton, current race leader and three-time Giro Donne winner Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx) finally had reason to worry. Moolman-Pasio only trails Van der Breggen's GC lead by 2:51, so a breakaway like this could potentially move her into the lead or significantly closer to it. Of course, as teammates, this switch-up would still mean that SD Worx would likely retain all three top podium positions in the GC, but would Van der Breggen want to give up the coveted pink jersey?

With 21 kilometers to go, the gap had come down slightly to 1:14, led by Team DSM, who were victorious in yesterday's sprint finish and were hoping for another sprint today. And like Stage 5, as the distance to the finish dropped, so did the attack group's advantage. By 15 kilometers to go, the gap had closed to under 30 seconds, with Jumbo Visma (Marianne Vos's team) working with Team DSM at the front to close the gap to allow their riders to fight for a sprint victory.

Final kilometers

Moolman-Pasio and Longo-Borghini were caught at 13 kilometers from the finish and swallowed up by the massive peloton. In the front, Team DSM, Movistar, Trek Segafredo, Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling, BikeExchange, and Lotto Jumbo all began to move into positions in preparation for a sprint as the race hit 8 kilometers to go.

Sarah Roy (Bike Exchange), followed by Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM), attacked with 3 kilometers to go. But while it was a brave effort, they were quickly caught.

With 1.5 kilometers, Team DSM began their attack in earnest, as Trek-Segafredo and Jumbo Visma matched their efforts. Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling were also unwilling to give up a front position. But when the dust cleared, it was Emma Norsgaard of Movistar who took the win, followed by Coryn Rivera (Team DSM), Vos, and Marta Bastianelli (Ale BTC Ljubljana), Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling), and Lucina Brand (Trek-Segafredo).

"It was amazing, it couldn’t have gone any better. I’m so proud of my team, and of myself," Norsgaard said. “The goal for the next stage is hopefully another win!”

General classification

Van der Breggen continues to lead the GC and the points classification, while her teammate Niamh Fisher-Black leads the youth classification and Canyon SRAM's Elise Chabbey leading the mountain classification.

In other Giro Donne news, racers are still energetic enough to enjoy themselves post-race:

And if you want to see what these long stages are doing to riders on an internal level, check out this chart from Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling. The team monitored riders' temps during the race and showed a comparison of Erica Magnaldi and Lara Vieceli's temperatures during a stage and how they changed as effort increases:

Tomorrow's route runs from Soprazocco Di Gavardo to Puegnago Del Garda, covering 68 miles over six circuits with a punishing climb on each lap.

Stage 5: Team DSM owns sprint finish

In a perfectly played sprint finish with nearly the entire peloton present, it was Team DSM who took home the Stage 5 win, with Lorena Wiebes being the first across the line in a dominant fashion. Canyon-SRAM, Movistar, Lotto-Jumbo, and Trek-Segafredo lit up the sprint in the final thrilling kilometers. Wiebes was led out by teammate Coryn Rivera; Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) came in second and third.

The Circuit Course

The lollipop-style course from Milano to Carugate featured four loops of a circuit that begins after the first 20 kilometers of racing. The flat stage made breakaways, attacks, and a strong sprint finish a near certainty, and the racers delivered over the 120km of racing. At around 80 degrees and sunny, it was a sweaty day on the course.

The breakaway

For the second half of the race, six women including Maria Novolodoskaia (AR Monex), Giorgia Vettorello (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), Silvia Zanardi (Bepink), Matilde Vitillo (Bepink), Noemi Lucrezia Eremita (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria), and Federica Damiana Piergiovanni (Valcar) led a breakaway.

With 14 kilometers to the finish, the breakaway with six women raced up the road, but the chase group was only 38 seconds behind. Novolodoskaia made a bold attack, creating a few seconds of separation between her and the chasers. Meanwhile, the chase group steadily closed the gap to under 30 seconds to the chase group with 12 kilometers of racing to go.

In the peloton, Team DSM was working to organize a leadout for the sprint finish, controlling the front of the race even as they worked to reel in the breakaway. With less than 10 kilometers from the finish, the five-person lead group was swallowed by the peloton as Novolodoskaia sped ahead, trying to keep the peloton at bay as she headed for the finish.

The final kilometers

With only seven kilometers to the finish, Novolodoskaia maintained a gap of just a few seconds on the peloton. Meanwhile, a small crash towards the back of the large group took out nearly a dozen riders. Trek-Segafredo's riders moved towards the front in preparation to launch Lizzie Deignan, the team's top GC contender, or Lucinda Brand, the team's other strong sprinter.

The final moments of the race saw Novolodoskaia caught with under four kilometers to go as riders sped across the street and around road barriers. Elisa Longho Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) led the peloton.

With two kilometers to go, Trek Segafredo stayed in the front of the race, followed by groups including Movistar, Team DSM, Canyon SRAM, SD Worx, LIV, and Lotto Jumbo—all teams with strong sprinters.

Team DSM attacked with under a kilometer to go, but Marianne Vos (Lotto Jumbo) sat poised to attack. But it was Team DSM's perfect leadout train with Leah Kirchmann, then Coryn Rivera, who led out Lorena Wiebes to take her first Giro Donne stage victory. Followed by Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), Vos, Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo), and Marta Bastianelli (Ale BTC Ljubljana).

Who is winning the GC?

Sprint finishes like this one make very little difference to the overall standings in the General Classification (GC). The SD Worx team maintains their top three podium positions, led by three-time Giro Donne winner Anna van der Breggen, who won yesterday's time trial stage in a dominant fashion. Trek-Segafredo's Deignan is the top non-SD Worx rider in fourth place, at 3:31 down from Van der Breggen, followed by Mavi García of Ale BTC Ljubljana.

Unfortunately, the race is beginning to whittle down. Two stages prior, American Tayler Wiles (Trek Segafredo) dropped out due to illness, and today Rally Cycling's Krista Doebel Hickok withdrew. A dozen riders were also eliminated when they missed the time cut after Van der Breggen's speedy time trial performance.

Racers like Rivera are still enjoying the stage race: Keep an eye on Rivera's Twitter to see what types of pasta she's getting for each meal (and her rating for each)! Three stars for al dente penne with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan cheese.

Tomorrow's stage is the longest of the race, and it's a mountainous one. It circles Lake Cuomo, and rather than one significant climb, it's punctuated by many short, steep segments.

Stage 4: Van der Breggen extends her lead in ITT

Today's 6.96-mile individual time trial, traveling from Formazza Loc. Fondovalle to Riale Di Formazza Cascate Del Toce, was largely made of a brutal climb taking riders an average of around 30 minutes to complete. The stage was eventually won by Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx), followed by teammate Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange) after hours of individual racing (and extreme pain for the athletes) finished at the top of a mountain.

In the general classification, Van der Breggen now enjoys a lead of 2:51 over her teammate Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and 3:03 over Vollering. Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) in fourth place is 5:53 behind.

Gear Choices

Many racers opted to ride standard road bikes rather than time-trial bikes in order to take advantage of a more comfortable climbing position and lighter gear. Some opted for a combination of climb-friendly light wheels and aero helmets, and some went for the full aero advantage of a time-trial bike. The weather was mild—hovering around 63 degrees—and unlike Stage 3, riders weren't dealing with rainstorms as they ascended the callous climb with over 500 meters of elevation.

Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange) opted for a full time-trial bike setup and was one of the favorites to win this short, painful stage. For most of the race, she sat on top of the leaderboard with a time of 26:14 as most of the top riders finished in the 28 to 30-minute range.

End-of-race shakeups

However, since riders line up in reverse order of general classification, there are often end-of-race shakeups, and this race was no different. Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) took over the lead as the final riders finished up the stage, beating Brown's time by 10 seconds at 26:03.

Vollering's lead didn't last long though: Her teammate, current race leader Anna van der Breggen smashed all the times by more than a minute, lighting up the course in a blistering 24:57.

“It was a nice time trial and a good practice for the upcoming Olympics,” said Van der Breggen. “We do not have a lot of time trials like this, actually, we do not have any at all, so it was good to have. I am in a luxury position to have the girls around me; it is nice for my last Giro Donne to go like this, but we are still only halfway, and you still need good legs. I think we will have to fight for it on the flat stages and the hard climbing stages coming up."

How did the Americans do?

US Americans did well in this stage: First stage pink jersey winner Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) and Leah Thomas (Movistar) came in under 28 minutes. Rally Cycling's Clara Honsinger—current US cyclocross National Champion—rode a speedy 28:01.

Van der Breggen's overall lead in the general classification (GC) continues to extend, and the SD Worx team remains at the top of the GC with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Vollering sitting second and third overall.

With six stages left to go, riders are already feeling the intensity of the race. As American Krista Doebel-Hickok of Rally Cycling tweeted, "Wake me up when it’s time for stage whatever of the #GiroDonne... Yes, we are already on stage whatever."

Some riders have also taken to Twitter to comment on the paltry amount of live coverage of the race, with FDJ's Brodie Chapman tweeting, "A police helicopter was hovering above our race today for some time, and I felt like I was in a grownup race with live TV. Perhaps throw a cameraman up in the chop with the cop next time?"

Tomorrow, riders head to Milan for the start of a 74.6 miles flat stage.

Stage 3: Vos is Boss

A powerhouse quartet which included cyclocross racers Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) and Lucinda Brand (Trek Segafredo), battled it out in a four-up sprint where Vos, former World Champion and Olympic gold medalist, took an emotional victory. Brand crossed the line second, Liane Lippert (Team DSM) third, and Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) in fourth. This win marks Vos's 29th stage victory in the Giro Donne.

“It’s incredible to win 29 times, but when you still can continue to do your passion, to do what you love, it’s amazing,” she said and added that she thought of Belgian cyclocrosser Jolien Verschueren, who passed away from cancer on Thursday, during the stage.

Changes to the route

Stage three of the Giro Donne featured 83 rainy miles from Casale Monferrato to Ovada. While there was no massive climb like riders saw at the end of stage two, the mountainous stage featured four categorized (read: hard) climbs after a relatively flat and fast start. There was a minor reroute of the course the night before, adding a bit of distance to the total, and a finish line set after a descent and a short flat made for a fight in the lead group.

How the race unfolded

The first half of the race remained steady as the entire peloton stayed together despite heavy rainfall. At around halfway, riders including FDJ's Brodie Chapman, Chabbey, Lippert, Brand, Grace Brown (Bike Exchange), and Sabrina Stultiens (LIV Racing) briefly broke away but were quickly swallowed up by the peloton. A small crash briefly interrupted the group's trajectory, but no significant injuries were sustained. Still, Arlenis Sierra and Ariadna Gutiérrez of A.R Monex Women's Team were forced to abandon.

The entire group splintered into two with 30 miles to the finish, with current race leader and three-time Giro Donne winner Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx) in the front group. Racing began in earnest in the last third of the stage, with riders including Marianne Vos and Mikayla Harvey (Canyon SRAM) making attacks.

(In other important news, Rally Cycling's social media is crushing it with behind-the-scenes team intel featuring many of the American riders in the race, as well as pups of the Giro Donne.)

The winning break

After the climb to Ovada, Lippert, and Brand—likely using her cyclocross skills to handle the wet, slippery roads—were on the attack, but Vos and Chabbey chased them down as the groups splintered further. With around 25 miles of racing left, the four opened up a 30-second gap on the chasers and steadily began to extend their lead.

Heading into the final 15 miles of the race, the four riders extended their gap to nearly three minutes. Behind them, a small peloton of around 30 racers chased, but it seemed unlikely that they would manage to catch the powerhouse quartet of Vos, Brand, Lippert, and Chabbey. However, current GC leader Van der Breggen wasn't too worried: The four racers in the front are far enough down in the GC that a stage win a few minutes ahead of the chase group won't make a big difference in the overall rankings, with the exception of Chabbey, who could potentially move into the top non-Team SD Worx position. The GC top-3 is currently controlled by the SD Worx team led by Van der Breggen.

The final kilometers

The group of four worked well together as they rode into the final two kilometers of racing. Meanwhile, the peloton chased conservatively rather than expending energy on attacks that could potentially lose them seconds on the group ahead.

With one kilometer to go, the quartet began to set up for a sprint, as each rider started looking at each other as they slowed, heading into the final meters of the race. Chabbey led out the sprint while Vos made sure she wouldn’t get boxed in. The tension mounted at 300 meters as Brand finally attacked, and Vos went with her, coming around Brand to take a definitive victory. Brand in second, Lippert in third, and Chabbey in fourth. This win marks Vos's 29th stage victory in the Giro Donne.

Behind them, by 3:18, the bunch sprint in the chasing peloton was fast and furious and won by Ceretizit - WNT Pro Cycling's Lisa Brennauer followed by American Coryn Rivera (Team DSM). In the peloton, Van der Breggen smoothly rolled in with a mid-pack finish that will keep her comfortably in the leader's jersey.

Disappointment and controversy

In other Giro Donne news, fans have been disappointed with both the live coverage and a report showing that despite the fact that organizers promised to double the prize money, the cash heading home with racers has, in fact, been lowered. Following 10 days of hard racing, the winner of this Giro will walk away with a mere 8,000 Euro, according to CyclingNews. For some context, the men's Tour de France winner will be riding away with a hefty 500,000 Euro prize purse.

We can only hope that the women's iteration of the Tour de France steps up the prize money in 2022 when it relaunches as an 8-day stage race.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a short individual time trial with a brutal climb.

Stage 2: SD Worx sweeps podium in summit finish

The second stage of the Giro Donne covered just over 62 miles, with more than 2,000 meters of climbing—most of it in the last 19 kilometers of the course.

The final kilometers contained the biggest climb of the day—over 1,000 meters—which made the last 15 kilometers streamed live all the more painful and exciting to watch. Unfortunately, the live feed struggled in this stage, irritating viewers who had tuned in early Saturday to watch the finish of the race.

The Giro Donne was downgraded in UCI status for 2021 due to the lack of live broadcast in 2020. Despite the assurances of the organizers that the race would be back with many improvements to live coverage, cycling fans remain unimpressed, especially since North Americans require a paid GCN subscription to tune in.

How did the race unfold?

At 9 kilometers to go, Erica Magnaldi (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) and Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx) attacked and had 19 seconds over the chasing group of around 15 riders. Meanwhile, GC leader Ruth Winder (Trek Segafredo) fell behind the chase group after leading during some of the early attacks.

With just under eight kilometers to go, current World Champion and three-time Giro Donne winner Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx) attacked and passed the leaders. Several smaller groups began to chase her up the final climb, but van der Breggen appeared smooth and in control despite an average of 6.4 percent gradient. With five kilometers to go, she'd established a gap of 28 seconds, with her teammate Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio sitting in second behind her. Marta Cavalli (FDJ) chased Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) in third as the riders entered the race’s final kilometers, and Van der Breggen extended her lead to 46 seconds.

With 2.4 kilometers to go, Cavalli rode around Vollering to move into third, attempting to prevent an SD Worx podium sweep. Van der Breggen was undeterred, her lead steadily growing to more than a minute as she closed in on the finishing stretch.

It was no contest as van der Breggen crossed the line with plenty of time to celebrate her win, though she powered through the finish as quickly as possible to move into the GC lead and put on the pink jersey for tomorrow's stage.

Back down the mountain, the other 140 riders fought their way up the climb, trying to claw back second in order to keep their overall time standings in the GC as close to the leader as possible. SD Worx' Moolman-Pasio crossed the line in second more than a minute back, followed by Vollering, who nipped Cavalli at the line for third, sweeping the podium for SD Worx. Magnaldi finished in fifth.

"The climb was hard; there was a lot of suffering," Van der Breggen admitted. "Today's goal was about getting as much time [in the GC] as possible."

How did the Americans do?

Americans also fared well in this stage: Clara Koppenburg (Rally Cycling) took an impressive third on the last QOM climb of the day. Koppenburg also finished only minutes down from the leaders in an exceptional 12th place finish. Coryn Rivera (Team DSM) led early race attacks as part of a four-rider break and had established a 35-second break with 25 kilometers to go.

Tune in for Stage 3 tomorrow, where riders will cover 83 miles from Casale Monferrato to Ovada. This mountainous stage covers a few sharp, short climbs in the second half of the race, with three climbs that will count for mountain leader points. The finish comes after a descent and a short flat, so there's potential for a tight finish sprint.

How to watch

Most days, the live stream begins between 8 and 9 a.m. EST on GCN Race Pass (available in selected territories). Cycling fans worldwide can help make a case for bringing better coverage to women's racing by tuning in each day to catch the end of the race. Highlights and rider interviews can also be found on YouTube.

Stage 1: Trek Segafredo takes pink in the TTT

The 10-stage Giro d’Italia Donne began today with a team time trial running from Fossano to Cuneo in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. This afternoon stage was only 16.5 miles with a gradual climb to the finish and set teams up for a speedy first day of racing. It was a hot, sunny summer day in Fossano at around 85 degrees at the race start, prompting many of the racers to do warmups while wearing ice vests to keep cool.

Trek-Segafredo's squad won the time trial, kickstarting the team's drive towards the leader's jersey. American Ruth Winder became the first woman of the 2021 Giro Donne to (ahem) don the pink jersey—a solid start for her pre-Olympic build. Winder will be representing the US on the road in Tokyo, and she particularly loves the team time trial.

Before the race, Winder wrote on Instagram, "TTT might just be one of my favorite disciplines... TTTs are even more special when you feel a large amount of respect for your teammates. Each of my Trek Segafredo teammates are so strong and combined I’m excited to see what we can do. Regardless of the outcome, I know I will always be proud to be among them."

The teams took to the course in three-minute intervals, and Winder had good reason to be proud. Trek-Segafredo was one of the last teams to start but finished a full eight seconds ahead of the second-place team, SD Worx, in a time of 33:40. Their speed was a blistering 29.56 MPH, even with team member Lizzie Deignan reportedly dealing with a technical issue early on in the race.

“It wasn’t the plan for me to cross the line first and take the pink jersey,” Winder said in Trek Segafredo's press release. “We were all just going full-gas to the line, and it just happened that around the last round-about, I was second behind Ellen van Dijk, and we were just sprinting full for the line.”

The Trek Segafredo team includes the double threat of GC contenders Lucinda Brand and Elisa Longo Borghini, and the boost from the team win will put them in a good position heading into the second stage. (Longo Borghini finished third overall in the 2020 Giro Donne.)

“We tried very hard today because we have such a strong leader with Elisa, who is super strong and super Italian, very proud, and this race means a lot to her,” Winder added.

Team SD Worx, with three-time Giro Donne winner Anna van der Breggen, finished in second, while Alé BTC Ljubljana finished third and 40 seconds behind the leaders. They were followed by Canyon SRAM Racing and Movistar Team.

Tomorrow's stage will kick off racing in earnest as riders begin to battle it out to see who will be in the pink jersey (the Giro Donne's version of the yellow leader's jersey) at the end of the day. The stage is just over 62 miles, with more than 2,000 meters of climbing. The final kilometers will be worth watching since much of the climbing happens in one final, brutal mountain finish.

You Might Also Like

• The 26 Best Cycling Movies of All Time

• The Benno Ballooner 8i Is a Comfortable and Sporty Urban Treat

• 7 Things You Should Do After Every Rainy Ride