After a few days of general classification battles, the eighth stage of the Giro Donne went to the sprinters, with Blanka Vas of SD Worx taking her second career WorldTour victory ahead of Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) and Liane Lippert (Movistar).
Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten finished safely in the bunch to retain her pink jersey with one stage to go. Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich) and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) finished with the World Champion and held onto their podium spots.
How it happened
- There were various attempts to get away from the bunch, with Van Vleuten’s teammate Floortje Mackaij active throughout the day, but the sprinters had other plans.
- Sprint trains started lining up in the final 10 km, setting a blistering pace for their fast women. With 2 km to go Fenix-Deceuninck accidentally sent two riders off the front; for a second it looked like a great move but Carina Schrempf and Inga van der Heijden couldn’t keep the momentum going as Uno-X chased.
- Soraya Paladin and Sarah Roy were the last women standing for Dygert in the approach to the line. The Canyon-SRAM leadout has been dialled, but the American national champ wasn’t able to hold position and found herself too far back in the final kilometre.
- Marianne Vos, who is on the hunt for her 33rd career Giro stage victory, looked primed to win but just lost speed in the final 50 meters. Out of nowhere and with no leadout Vas came to the front to win the stage.
Brief stage results
- Blanka Vas (SD Worx)
- Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM)
- Liane Lippert (Movistar)
- Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ)
- Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) all same time
GC standings
- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar)
- Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich) @ 3:56
- Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) @ 4:23
- Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) @ 5:34
- Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) @ 5:35
Notes and analysis
- It was a really hot day for the riders, with ice socks playing a massive role. Temps at the finish were 97°F/36°C. Not exactly the kind of weather you’d want to race hours in. The final stage on Sunday will be another warm one for the women.
- SD Worx is riding the final stages with only five riders after Elena Cecchini and Lorena Wiebes left ahead of stage 7. Being short on numbers didn’t impact their ability to wipe the floor with everyone else.
- There were a few minor shuffles in the top 10 general classification with Erica Magnaldi taking Veronica Ewers’ fourth place and Silvia Persico jumping up one place to eighth.
- After 18 years in the professional peloton, Marta Bastianelli will hang up her bike after Sunday’s stage. The Italian won Gent-Wevelgem in 2018, Tour of Flanders in 2019, the European Championships in 2018, as well as countless other races. Her biggest victory was the World Championship road race in 2007. She was suspended in late 2008 and 2009 for a doping violation but returned to the peloton in 2010 and continued racing at the top of the sport … until tomorrow.
Next up: Stage 9 preview
The final stage of this year’s Giro Donne is similar to the eighth stage in Sardinia: constantly rolling. There are two classified climbs, both Category 3. The first starts under 6 km in, and the second is 70 km into the 126.5 km stage.
Osilo, the first climb, is only 4.8 km long and 5.2%, while Tempio Pausania is 7.7 km and 4.7%. Neither climb has sectors steeper than 6%, so they aren’t insane. There are still some other shorter steeper climbs throughout the day but they aren’t long enough to make it a GC day.
The finish comes after a long descent into Olbia and is flat, so look for a break or a reduced bunch sprint in the finale.
It’s not all fun and games … ok maybe it is
While everyone lost their minds about some guy playing with a basketball in France, the women were also not taking the time pre-start too seriously.
Movistar clearly enjoyed their rest day with some dancing by the pool.
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