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Consonni punches the air in victory

Giro Women stage 2 report: Consonni outsprints Kopecky

Elisa Longo Borghini retained her one-second lead over Grace Brown ahead of stage 3.

Abby Mickey
by Abby Mickey 08.07.2024 Photography by
Cor Vos
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There aren’t many sprint finish opportunities at the 2024 Giro d’Italia Women, but the second stage came down to the bunch and it was Italy’s Chiara Consonni who dashed to victory ahead of Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek). The win is Consonni’s third stage victory at the Giro.

Pink jersey wearer Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) finished ninth and retained her lead over FDJ-Suez’s Grace Brown in the general classification.

Stage 2 Top 10

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How it happened

A front on shot of the Giro stage 2 sprint

Brief analysis

GC Top 10

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Elisa Longo Borghini sprays prosecco in the pink jersey
Elisa Longo Borghini all smiles in the pink jersey after stage 1

Quote of the Day

When you read this quote throw on your best, thick Italian accent.

I was super focused on my sprint because I know I have not a lot of opportunities but really I play as well as possible.

Consonni after her victory

What’s next?

Stage 3: Sabbioneta to Toano (113 km)

Date: Tuesday, July 9
Stage type: Mountaintop
Summary: Flat, flat, flat, CLIMB!

Already on the third stage, we have our first “mountaintop” finish, although the climb itself is quite gradual so it likely won’t see too many of the GC favourites distanced before the line, and there is 3 km of relatively flat after the summit of the climb which favours a small bunch sprint of the favourites.

The whole run into the base of the climb is dead flat. The road starts to slant upward 84 km into the 113 km-long stage. It’s also not going to be like the Vuelta; there is no wind on the menu in the early stages of this race.

There will be plenty of time for teams to set up for their GC riders, but the climb itself starts with 12 km to go. From there it’s almost nine km of climbing, with an average of 5.4% and a maximum of 12.5% grades. With 3 km to go the road levels out, but briefly before kicking again to the line. A really strong climber like Demi Vollering might be able to drop the rest on a climb like this, but with Vollering sitting out the Giro to focus on the Olympics and Tour, it’s more likely a small group can stay together on the climb and the fastest among them will sprint to victory *cough* Elisa Longo Borghini *cough*.

This could be a double-race kind of day, with a breakaway of riders who lost time on the first two stages fighting for a stage win and a fight for the GC behind. There’s enough flat road before the climb that if a group gets a decent gap and starts the climb with an advantage they may be able to hold off the fastest GC women. The climb is also not necessarily steep enough for the chase to naturally reel in the attackers. But it is more likely the race comes down to the favourites, as the first climbing test for those hoping to win pink.

Originally published in the stage-by-stage preview that can be found here.

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