The final stage of the Giro d’Italia Women was a dream day for Lidl-Trek. The stage win went to a breakaway of three, with Kim le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) securing her first professional win. Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) took another second place after finishing second on the sixth stage, and Franziska Koch (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) finished third. With them crossing the line ahead of the bunch, the bonus seconds were eliminated, and the general classification would come down to the strongest rider on the final climb.
In the end, it was Longo Borghini who came out on top. The Italian champion attacked Lotte Kopecky in the final metres, but the world champion could not respond and Longo Borghini took fourth on the stage. After days of only a few seconds buffer, Longo Borghini won the Giro d’Italia by 21 seconds over Kopecky, with Neve Bradbury finishing third overall, 1:16 behind.
Stage 8 Top 10
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How it happened
- With fatigue in the peloton from yesterday’s parcours, the final stage and the heat all week did the job of shredding the peloton early in the stage.
- A breakaway of three left the race behind with 86 km to go, one of them Lidl-Trek’s Lucinda Brand, who broke her finger on stage 3 taking a bottle from the side of the road. The trio was soon joined by Justine Ghekiere, the leader in the Mountains Classification.
- They only lasted to the top of the Cat 1 climb midway through the stage, but it was enough for Ghekiere to take full points and secure the QOM competition.
- As soon as the peloton caught the attackers, more riders attempted to get away. Edwards attacked multiple times and eventually was able to escape with the company of Le Court and Koch. It took a while for them to get a good enough gap to feel safe and wasn’t until the final 15 km that they were able to see a minute’s advantage.
- In the peloton behind, Kopecky was left with only one teammate in Niamh Fisher-Black. Luckily, a handful of other teams were keen to get a rider up the road which helped reduce the gap to the front. FDJ-Suez were particularly interested in sending a rider away, and Loes Adegeest was able to launch a successful move with 10 km to go when the break was only one minute away.
- Into the final 5 km, the gap had dropped to 48 seconds, with action in the peloton behind. On an uncategorized climb, Mavi García attacked, and it was Kopecky who followed. She was marked by Longo Borghini and Bradbury and behind the remaining peloton of riders kissed any chances goodbye.
- Once the ‘peloton’ regrouped after the short climb, the speed went out of it and the distance to the break increased to 54 seconds with 1 km to go. That meant that if the leaders were able to stay away in the final kilometre, they would take the bonus seconds off the line.
- Bradbury was the first of the GC riders to make a move on the final climb. Kopecky was close behind her with Longo Borghini on her wheel.
- In front of them, Le Court sprinted away from Edwards and Koch to take the stage victory.
- As they approached the line, Longo Borghini attacked, leaving Kopecky behind for the first time. The Italian crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of Kopecky and won the Giro d’Italia Women, the first Italian to do so since 2008.
Final GC Top 10
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Brief analysis
- Kopecky also made history, as the first Belgian woman to finish on the podium of the Italian ‘Grand Tour’. She also didn’t go home empty-handed as she won the Points Classification.
- Bradbury won the Best Young Rider classification over a minute ahead of her teammate Antonia Niedermaier.
- Kopecky and Longo Borghini are both set to line up at the Paris Olympics in a few weeks. Longo Borghini has twice finished third in the road race, and Kopecky is set to race both road and track events.
- Longo Borghini was in contention to at least podium in last year’s Giro but unfortunately crashed out of the race on the fifth stage. Her season after the crash was rough and she said she needed to almost completely rebuild her body. The Giro win is proof she is in the form of her life, and with the Olympics and the Tour de France Femmes on the horizon, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of the Italian champion.
Quote of the Day
Now it’s mine. I am really proud to wear this Maglia Rosa in Italy with the Lidl-Trek jersey on. I will need some time to realize what I have [done].
Elisa Longo Borghini on winning the Giro d’Italia
Longo Borghini’s husband, who rides for Lidl-Trek’s men’s team, started driving at 2 am to be there for the finish. Fans of Longo Borghini will know he gets frequent shoutouts from Longo Borghini, every time she wins a race he is the first person she thanks.
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