Women’s Giro: Stage 6

Yet another stage win for Marianne Vos as she continues to dominate the Women’s Giro stages beating Hannah Barnes into second on stage 6; Annemiek van Vleuten continues to lead the GC, Lizzy Banks in 11th

Women’s Giro: Stage 6

Race leader Annemiek van Vleuten ticked off another day in the maglia rosa as stage six of the Giro Rosa came down to a sprint finish for the second day in-a-row won by Vos from Hannah Barnes.

The world champion race leader had her Mitchelton-SCOTT teammates for company throughout the day, with the 37-year-old crossing the line safely in the reduced peloton to maintain her lead in the general classification. An attacking start to the stage saw a number of riders go clear of the peloton by a handful of second before being reabsorbed by the bunch. It was a rapid first half of the short, 97km route from Torre del Grecco to Nola, and the peloton was strung out over the first climb.

However, it was all back together after the descent as the race then headed towards the next ascent. In a repeat of yesterday’s stage, it was CCC-Liv who drove the pace up the longest climb of the day and just like on stage five, they dropped the pure sprinters in the peloton. A small rise after the descent then presented an opportunity for attacks and several riders made moves inside the remaining 30km. After numerous failed attempts, a lone attacker eventually managed to get clear, opening up a gap of 30-seconds with 10km to go.

There was no chance that the remaining fast finishers in the leading group were going to pass up the opportunity to sprint for the win, and it was all back together in time for another reduced bunch kick. It was Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv) who backed up her sprint victory from yesterday to claim her third stage of the race. Meanwhile, Van Vleuten was surrounded by her teammates in the finale as they guided the maglia rosa safely through another stage.

Annemiek van Vleuten: “It was a bit the same today, I was quite happy that CCC were driving on the climbs to drop some of the sprinters and that meant for me it’s more easy and less hectic in the final, because for us the goal was to get myself safe to the finish.

“The key [for the remaining stages] is to stay focussed no matter what, like if it’s a sprint stage, anything can happen. I learned my lesson from four years ago when I lost focus one time with a windy day. So, I will be focussed every day.

“For sure stage eight is the hardest with also a finish uphill, but I look forward to that one. But for the other stages it’s like ‘just stay focussed’, I have to keep a really close eye on Anna van der Breggen and Kasia Niewiadoma especially, and my team is helping so well, Amanda Spratt is always there, so I feel super protected by my team.”

Hannah Barnes: “The team plan was to go for me if there was a group coming to the line. My main goal was to get over the climbs and once I’d done that I was feeling good and up for the finish,” explained Hannah. “After the final climb the downhill was fast, and with 10km to go we were all together, as we knew the final 5km wasn’t that easy so we wanted to make sure we kept Kasia safe into at least 3km to go.”

Hannah continued, “Alena did a great lead out, I think she did over 2km on the front, it was really impressive. Elena was there then but through the corner with 700m to go it became quite messy. After that, I could hold my position and I had some speed so I started my sprint with around 200-250m to go. I was forced to come around the right side when the finish was a sweeping left bend so I took the long way around, and could almost hold it to the line.”

“Overall, I’m pleased. I’ve not had the chance to go for many sprints lately, so it was good to nearly get the win.” Hannah, who won a bunch sprint stage of the Giro Rosa in 2017, hoped there would be more opportunities in the future. “It’s me that’s holding me back. I need to take confidence from today and know that I can be there at the finish and to use today as motivation going into the next races when there can be a sprint finish,” admitted Hannah.

Stage 6 (of 9)
1. Marianne Vos Point jersey CCC-Liv 02:14:24
2. Hannah Barnes Canyon-SRAM Racing @ 00
3. Lotte Kopecky Lotto – Soudal Ladies
4. Coryn Rivera Team Sunweb
5. Amy Pieters Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team
6. Arlenis Sierra Astana Women’s Team
7. Ilaria Sanguineti Valcar – Travel & Service
8. Giorgia Bariani Top Girls Fassa Bortolo
9. Stine Borgli FDJ-N. Aquitaine-Futuroscope
10. Katarzyna Niewiadoma Canyon-SRAM Racing

22. Elizabeth Banks Équipe Paule Ka @ 04
32. Annemiek van Vleuten Mitchelton-Scott @ 04
60. Lizzie Deignan Trek-Segafredo Women @ 54
86. Abby-Mae Parkinson Lotto – Soudal Ladies @ 06:30
87. Elizabeth Holden Bizkaia – Durango @ 06:30

Overall
1. Annemiek van Vleuten Mitchelton-Scott 17:37:28
2. Katarzyna Niewiadoma Canyon-SRAM Racing @ 01:52
3. Anna van der Breggen Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team @ 02:03
4. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig FDJ-N. Aquitaine-Futuroscope @ 03:03
5. Mikayla Harvey Équipe Paule Ka @ 04:21
6. Elisa Longo Borghini Trek-Segafredo Women @ 04:32
7. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio CCC-Liv @ 04:34
8. Mavi Garcia Alé BTC Ljubljana @ 04:38
9. Marianne Vos CCC-Liv @ 05:02
10. Elise Chabbey Équipe Paule Ka @ 05:32
11. Elizabeth Banks Équipe Paule Ka