Giro Rosa: Brand solos to stage win in Palinuro

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Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) won the eighth stage of the Giro Rosa in dramatic fashion. The Dutchwoman went on the attack on the day's only categorised climb. As she climbed, she passed Janneke Ensing (Alé Cipollini) an earlier escapee and began to claw her way up to lone leader Tetyana Riabchenko (Lensworld Kuota).

"I knew the final really suited me with the descent, so I knew that I had to go for it," Brand said in her team's race report. "I felt really good all day, and on the climb I decided to try to get away and chase the other breakaway riders down."

Twenty-eight kilometres from the finish, over the top of the GPM, Riabchenko led Brand by around one minute. One of the best descenders in the bunch, Brand put her downhill skills to good use as she chased Riabchenko down to the finish line. The gap was down to 30-seconds at the 10-kilometre mark.

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Brand made contact with Riabchenko before the final three kilometres. The pair were flying to the finish when Brand crashed. Quick to scramble back on her back, Brand managed to catch Riabchenko a second time just inside the final three kilometres.

Brand, who had previously won two Giro Rosa stages, promptly dropped Riabchenko. Across the finish line in Palinuro, Brand celebrated alone. The gutsy move earned Brand an eight-spot jump on the general classification. Twelfth at the start of day, by stage end Brand had cracked the top-five.

"I'm really happy with the win," said Brand. "We have fought so hard and have been so close to a result all week, so it's brilliant to win today on such a difficult stage. When you come close all of the time, it only makes you more motivated and hungrier for the win.

Riabchenko came in 11-seconds after Brand to take second place on the stage. Defending champion Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans), who sits fourth overall, led the reduced peloton home 1:33 later. Race leader Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) finished on the same time as her teammate alongside all the overall contenders.

"The riders ahead weren't a threat to Anna's general classification position," Guarnier in the Boels-Dolmans race report. "We were comfortable with the situation."

How it happened

The peloton staged in Baronissi with heavy hearts. Claudia Cretti (Valcar-PBM) had crashed heavily on stage seven and was airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment. The most recent public statement was made by the hospital at which Cretti had cranial surgery. The statement outlined Cretti's injuries including a severe head trauma that had lead to multiple contusion. As a result of her injuries, Cretti was put into a medically induced coma. While her injuries are critical, her condition was listed as "stable" by her medical team.

The 141-kilometre queen stage took the peloton along a coastal road over a number of categorised climbs before heading inland for the Cima Coppi, the highest point of the Giro Rosa, in Cuccaro Vetere. The GPM came at 113-kilometres and was followed by a technical drop back down to the coast before a short uphill kick to the line.

All early break attempts were neutralised until the peloton fractured over the longest of the unclassified climbs. The steep slopes split the peloton and a 40-rider group emerged over the top. It was from this group that Ane Santesteban (Alé Cipollini) slipped up the road. The Italian remained away solo through the intermediate sprint point in Castelnuova.

Ensing and Riabchenko joined and then promptly dropped Santesteban on the lower slopes of the GPM climb. Ensing proved unable to match Riabchenko's pace but joined forces with Brand and Anouska Koster (WM3 Energie) as the roads continued to rise. Over the top of the GPM climb, Riabchenko had 1:20 on Ensing, Brand and Koster.

"There were some attacks on the GPM climb by the GC riders, but it all stayed together," noted Guarner. "After the attacks were ineffective, Orica started chasing over the top of the climb and then Astana took over on the descent."

Up ahead, Brand plunged down the technical descent in pursuit of Riabchenko, catching her on the run-in to the line. Guarnier's group, more than four minutes behind Riabchenko over the top of the GPM had limited losses to Brand to 90-seconds by stage end.

Van der Breggen heads into the weekend with a 1:03 advantage over Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) and 1:39 over Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) with two stages left to race.

The Giro Rosa continues on Saturday with a 122-kilometre stage between Palinuro and Polla.

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