Vos wins in Jesi

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Marianne Vos won the fourth stage in the Giro Rosa, outsprinting Shelley Olds (Alé-Cipollini) and Rabo-Liv teammate Lucinda Brand, keeping hold of her overall race lead.

"The photofinish had to decide," Vos told Cyclingnews. "Initially it seemed to be Lucinda but I eventually won by milimeters. These victories (it was Rabo-Liv's fourth) make for a good atmosphere in the team."

The fourth stage of the Giro Rosa saw the peloton travel alongside the Adriatic sea to the north but finished inland in Jesi after 118 kilometres. The stage was a mainly flat affair with only a category three climb in the last 15 kilometres.

A two-woman break eventually went up the road with Hitec's Emilie Moberg and Bizkaia Durango's Yulia Ilinykh. They were quickly retrieved and another group including the Polish time trial champion Eugenia Bujak but they were also caught in the first hour of racing,

Russian rider Ilinykh tried another attempt. She is no stranger to solo attacks. In this year's Flèche Wallonne she tried it to no avail, but today seemed different for a while for the 28-year old.

"When I saw the gap was increasing I started to think I could bring some happiness to the team. We didn’t start the Giro as good as we had wished," Ilinykh told Cyclingnews. 

At 15 kilometres from the finish, and only the category 3 climb to go, she had a healthy two and half minutes lead on the peloton but then the gap fell rapidly. Hitec Products did the lion's share of work in the bunch for their sprinter Chloe Hosking, as did UHC. After riding on her own for 60 kilometres Ilinykh was caught in the streets of Jesi.

"Of course I wanted to win the stage and I thought it was possible after having that big gap on the first climb, but the Giro is the Giro and the best teams had the situation under control. I’m happy with the stage and with the chance I’ve had, and I have to thank all my team for the support they’ve given me," Ilinykh concluded.

Marianne Vos proved again that she is a powerful rider. The final drag was a 5% uphill sprint over 700 metres with two turns after a technical descent into Jesi.

"The climb in the last ten kilometres didn't make the difference," Vos said. The team decided not to to help to chase down Ilinykh. That was mainly down to Unitedhealthcare with sprinter Hannah Barnes.

"Ilinykh was no threat to the overall so we didn't waste energy on the chase. We did want to be well-positioned and we were. It was Pauline [Ferrand Prevot] who did the pace making on the hill and Annemiek piloted me through the turns before the last 300 metre straight line."

Shelley Olds (Alé-Cipollini) sprinted to second and Vos' teammate Lucinda Brand rounded up the podium.

After a late start to the season after a seventh world title in cyclo-cross, Vos returned to road racing in Flèche Wallonne in April. Today was the 13th victory of the season for the 27-year old multiple world champion.

Stage five marks the midway point of this year's race. The peloton travels further up north to Cesenatico. Only one climb on the menu of the 118,3 kilometre race. It's the last chance for the sprinters before the Giro Rosa peloton hits the mountains.

Vos leads in the overall classification but it was no means safe ahead of the hard stages to come

"Mara Abbott is still very strong uphill. She is at 2:34 now but last year I lost over four minutes to her. And Hitec is riding strong with Ashleigh Moolman and Elisa Longo Borghini. Claudia Lichtenberg is also someone to reckon with."

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