Giro Donne: Van Vleuten continues dominance on stage 7

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Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) has extended her domination of the Giro d'Italia Donne with another stage win, her third of the 2023 edition, after a solo move on the finishing climb.

Attacking on the penultimate climb, the maglia rosa was followed by Juliette Labous (Team DSM-Firmenich) and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek).

They quickly passed Mavi García (Liv Racing TeqFind) who had attacked early on the climb, and on the run-in to the finishing climb, Van Vleuten left the work to Labous and Realini who were fighting for the overall podium.

At 1,800 metres from the finish, Van Vleuten's trademark acceleration left her two companions behind, and she won the stage 13 seconds ahead of Labous, with Realini finishing third at 20 seconds.

The GC has the same riders in the top three heading into the rest day transfer to Sardinia, Van Vleuten being 3:56 minutes ahead of Labous and 4:25 minutes ahead of Realini.

“This was a nice one because it was really a team performance. Everyone did their job perfectly to defend the jersey, and it’s super nice to finish it off. I ended up in a really good situation in the final, finally, I got Gaia Realini in front of me instead of in my wheel, she had to work for the podium, it was a perfect situation for us,” Van Vleuten thanked her team and referenced stage 6 of La Vuelta Femenina where she pulled Realini for 30km.

Van Vleuten had hoped to share the limelight on stage 7 at the Giro Donne with some of her teammates who had carte blanche to go for the stage, but in the end, it was down to the maglia rosa again.

“It was actually planned to give an opportunity to Paula Patiño or Liane Lippert if they could get in a break, and if it was all together, it was for me. The tarmac was really bad. Usually, I like to go out of the saddle, but today the tarmac was so bad I couldn’t. But I am super happy I could drop them, got two girls with me who had to work, it was a perfect finish,” the 40-year-old explained.

“I am really happy that I did the recon of the course yesterday and saw this super beautiful road. I could really enjoy the beautiful views, and I hope the helicopter captured them because today I was suffering a lot,” Van Vleuten finished with a tourist’s view of the Ligurian coast.

How it unfolded

The peloton stayed together on the first climb of the day, the Passo del Ginestro, where Fem van Empel (Team Jumbo-Visma) took maximum points at the top in a late bid for the mountain jersey.

Elena Pirrone (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) attacked on the descent and enjoyed a gap of up to 52 seconds but was reeled in on the climb of Il Vigneto. There were attacks on this climb from Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx), Victorie Guilman (FDJ-SUEZ), Patiño, Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), and García, but nobody could get away, and Van Empel again won the mountain sprint.

Anouska Koster (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) went on the attack in the rolling terrain after the climb and established a one-minute gap. Van Empel and Persico chased after her but were reeled in again after the descent.

A counterattack by Guilman and Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) was neutralised by Fisher-Black and Lippert, and Koster was quickly caught by a peloton of about 40 riders at the start of the Cima Paravenna climb. Fisher-Black, Labous, and Realini took turns leading the group until García attacked 4.5km from the top, quickly getting a gap.

Behind the Spanish champion, the peloton had split into several groups: Labous and Realini tried to limit the gap to García, leading a group that also included Van Vleuten and Fisher-Black, with Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), second overall going into the stage, Lippert, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ), Erica Magnaldi, and Silvia Persico (both UAE Team ADQ) returning after a while.

With García’s advantage at 25 seconds, Lippert and Labous tried to attack through the village of Paravenna but could not get away, and after an acceleration by Fisher-Black, Van Vleuten attacked herself with 1.5 km to go to the top of the climb.

Realini and Labous made their way back onto her wheel while Fisher-Black had to leave a gap, and the group of three soon passed García who struggled to keep up with them and eventually was dropped, cresting the climb 10 seconds behind.

After the climb, the race continues on the mountain ridge where Van Vleuten asked Realini and Labous to work if they wanted to finish on the overall podium as Ewers had imploded on the Cima Paravenna and was 1:15 minutes behind at the top.

Fisher-Black caught up with García a kilometre after the QOM sprint, and they worked together but could not keep the following group with Magnaldi, Persico, Uttrup Ludwig, Muzic, and Lippert from returning.

The front trio started the finishing climb, 2.7 kilometres to the Santuario Nostra Signora della Guardia overlooking the Ligurian Sea, half a minute ahead of the chase group. Ewers was 1:39 minutes behind.

As Uttrup Ludwig and Lippert dropped the rest of the chase group, Van Vleuten made her stage-winning move at the front to take another solo victory ahead of Labous and Realini.

The maglia rosa’s teammate Lippert dropped Uttrup Ludwig on the final metres to finish fourth, Persico finished sixth ahead of Muzic, Fisher-Black, and Magnaldi. García paid for her earlier attack to finish 1:57 minutes behind, with Ewers crossing the line at 2:23 minutes, dropping to fourth place overall.

With her stage victory, Van Vleuten secured the points and mountain classifications where nobody can surpass her points tallies on the final two stages. Friday will be a rest and transfer day before the final two stages on the island of Sardinia.

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