Giro Rosa: Van Vleuten wins prologue in Ljubljana

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Bigla Pro Cycling's Annemiek Van Vleuten stormed to the prologue victory and into the first leader's jersey at the 2015 Giro Rosa on Friday evening in Slovenia's capital city Ljubljana. The Dutchwoman covered the two-kilometre course in 2:48 minutes beating three Rabo-Liv riders; Lucinda Brand, Roxane Knetemann and Anna van der Breggen.

Van Vleuten's victory is similar to last year's where she won the opening stage and took the early leader's jersey. This time, she will head into stage 1 with a one-second advantage over Knetemann and two seconds over Van der Breggen. She has shown top form, recently winning the prologue at the Euskal Emakumeen Bira. 

“It feels super cool because I also won the prologue in Bira and this again is a special feeling to get to wear the maglia rosa tomorrow. I’m so happy for the team,” she said.

The prologue was held on a flat, two-kilometre course that had two 180-degree turns. “You can’t make any mistakes in a prologue like this," she said.

"You might come here as a favourite but it’s not so easy because everything has to go perfect. I feel on good form and I was really focused. I practiced a lot. I think I did the turnaround corner 15 times.”

The Giro Rosa will continue in Slovenia for stage 1 on July 4 with a 102.2km road race from Kamnik back to Ljubljana. The course is flat and fast with the exception of one seven-kilometre climb located at the halfway point, which could foil the sprinters’ aspirations for a bunch sprint and a chance to take the leader’s jersey.

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