Annemiek van Vleuten annihilated the second stage of the Giro Donne, winning by 45 seconds over a group of general classification favourites. By winning the stage the world champion also took the first pink jersey of the race, after the stage 1 time trial was cancelled due to heavy rain.
FDJ-Suez’s Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig led the chasing group across the line to take second, with Juliette Labous of DSM rounding out the podium.
How it happened
- The day’s long breakaway was brought back as the race approached the lone climb on the stage thanks to a high pace from the top teams.
- Van Vleuten followed a move on the 16 km Passo della Colla by Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini but left the two Lidl-Trek riders behind roughly 4 km from the top of the climb.
- Realini and Marta Cavalli topped the climb just over half a minute behind the world champion, a handful of seconds behind them a group of chasers, including Longo Borghini, hovered just under a minute from the leader.
- The chasing group caught Realini and Cavalli with 5 km to go and the additional legs got to work to bring back Van Vleuten, 42 seconds ahead. Despite aggressive chasing from Longo Borghini, Van Vleuten was too quick to be caught.
Brief stage results
- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar)
- Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez) +45
- Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich) “
- Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) “
- Ane Santesteban (Jayco-AlUla) “
GC standings
- Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar)
- Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez) +49
- Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich) +51
- Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) +55
- Ane Santesteban (Jayco-AlUla) “
Notes and analysis
- After hitting the deck hard on stage 1 Canyon-SRAM were afraid their leader Chloe Dygert had fractured her sacrum. At midnight she was finally cleared to race, albeit with severe bruising. Not ideal with the entire race still ahead of her, but if anyone can ride through the pain it’s the American champ. Despite being a favourite for the overall, Dygert finished the stage over three minutes behind Van Vleuten.
- Although she didn’t go down in the time trial like many others, Annemiek van Vleuten did crash in her warm-up ahead of the first stage. She could be seen during stage 2 with a sleeve of gauze on her right arm.
- FDJ-Suez, who we noted in our preview is of the deeper teams in the race, ended up with three riders in the chasing group; Cavalli after being scooped up with Realini, Évita Muzic, and Uttrup Ludwig.
- SD Worx, who dominated the 2023 season up to this point, were not present in the front of the race. Their top finisher Niamh Fisher-Black crossed the line 2’48” behind the winner.
- This edition of the Giro Donne is Van Vleuten’s final Giro, as she is set to retire at the end of the season. Today’s stage marked a milestone, as her 100th UCI-rated race victory.
What’s on tap for Stage 3
The third stage of the Giro Donne is a pretty straightforward day for the sprinters, with only one very short categorized climb that peaks with 71.2 km to go. The women race 118.2 km from Formigine to Modena, a relatively short stage.
Van Vleuten has a comfy cushion in the general classification, and as it’s a flattish day Lidl-Trek and FDJ-Suez, the two teams best placed to displace the world champion, don’t have many opportunities to take time on Van Vleuten. It’s a day for the general classification teams to sit back and reset ahead of stage 4, better to leave this stage to the sprinters.
Quote of the day
Van Vleuten prepped for the Giro at altitude, in Livigno where she has been going to train for years. The Italian cycling hotbed has been the foundation for many of Van Vleuten’s victories, including her triple crown of La Vuelta, Giro Donne and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2022.
Ahead of the Giro she went to Livigno again, but after not feeling her best in the Dutch National Championships she came into the Giro with uncharacteristic doubt of her form.
“Livigno is for me where the magic happens, I recharge myself and I usually come back really strong but I didn’t know, I didn’t test myself, I think Livigno did its work again.”
Annemiek van Vleuten at the finish of the stage
Live pictures were interrupted while the race was in full swing on Passo della Colla due to a thunderstorm so viewers were treated to shots of the crowd. Needless to say, a highlight was seeing this bunny enjoying a cuddle near the finish line.
What did you think of this story?