The losses and surprises as massive time gaps open on first summit finish
SD Worx claimed 1-2-3 as Anna van der Breggen soloed to victory ahead of her teammates Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Demi Vollering(Image credit: Getty Images)
SD Worx proved their dominance in the overall classification at the 2021 Giro d'Italia Donne after the first summit finish on stage 2 to Prato Nevoso.
Van der Breggen, who is the defending champion and looking for her fourth overall victory, now leads the overall classification over her teammates, 1:26 on Moolman Pasio and 1:57 on Vollering - with the next in line now sitting some three and four minutes behind.
Stage 2's 100km race began in Boves and looped across the region's lumpy terrain before tackling the first of two proper mountaintop finishes at Prato Nevoso, a 15-kilometre climb that caused massive separations among the GC contenders.
With only two stages down and eight more to go, Cyclingnews looks at the GC riders who lost time to Anna van der Breggen, and who surprised on the climb to Prato Nevoso.
The biggest loss of the day came for Trek-Segafredo. After a stellar start to the 10-day race with a victory in the team time trial that put Ruth Winder in the first maglia rosa, the team all but imploded on the climb to Prato Nevoso with Lizzie Deignan finishing as their top rider at the summit and now their top placed rider on GC in fourth at 3:31 down.
Winder was not expected to keep her overall position as she was a support rider for Italian Champion and third-placed overall last year Elisa Longo Borghini, who finished a disappointing 32nd place and now sits in 22nd overall at 8:32 off the maglia rosa.
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Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange) didn't have her superb climbing legs of years past on Prato Nevoso, and although she finished in the second chase group on the climb and in 8th place on the day, she is now in 9th overall at 4:38 back. There are still eight days to try and claw back some of that time for a potential podium spot.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) had an unlucky crash during the opening team time trial on Friday and started stage 2 already 1:46 down in the overall classification. The Danish all-rounder finished 19th on the day and is now 7:41 down.
Mikayla Harvey (Canyon-SRAM) was last year's best young rider and the team's highest hope to improve on her fifth place overall last year, especially as Kasia Niewiadoma (runner-up last year) opted to skip the Giro to focus on the Olympics. The New Zealander finished 36th on the stage and is now 29th overall at 9:47 down.
There were a number of surprises emerging on the climb to Prato Nevoso, however, and all rode strong performances that have launched them further up the overall classification.
Italian Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) is now a GC hope for her home race after turning heads with her fourth-place atop Prato Nevoso. She lost time in the team time trial due to a puncture the previous day, but she has shown herself to be a contender in the mountains for the remaining of the race, now placed 13th at 5:53 back.
"Cecilie crashed and I punctured in the team time trial, so today we were motivated to take a good position and so I fought until the end," Cavalli said. "I was so close to third but Demi Vollering was faster than me in the sprint. Fourth is a good account but we have eight hard days to go. We are here to fight for a stage win. We know that the GC position will arrive with good stages [performances] so we continue to fight."
Gaia Realini (Isolmant-Premac-Victoria) is the most surprising rider in the top-10 on Prato Nevoso, finishing sixth place on the day and moving up to 11th at 5:27 back.
Mavi Garcia (Ale BTC Ljubljana) was part of the select chase group on the climb finishing in the top-10 and moving up to 5th overall at 3:42. Likewise, Erica Magnaldi (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team) had a strong performance on the climb that now sees her in 6th at 3:50 down. Former runner-up in 2013 and third place in 2010 Tatiana Guderzo (also Ale BTC Ljubljana) finished inside in the top-10 and is now positioned 7th overall at 4:08.
Anna van der Breggen has an almost unassailable lead after just two days of racing, and SD Worx have a stronghold on the GC top 3, but there is still eight days of racing that includes an uphill time trial on stage 4, and another mountaintop finish on stage 9 at Monte Matajur, the penultimate stage, before concluding in Cormons on July 11.
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General classification after stage 2 - Top 30
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx
3:32:09
2
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
0:01:26
3
Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
0:01:57
4
Elizabeth Deignan (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
0:03:31
5
Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale' BTC Ljubljana
0:03:42
6
Erica Magnaldi (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
0:03:50
7
Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale' BTC Ljubljana
0:04:08
8
Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx
0:04:18
9
Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange
0:04:38
10
Juliette Labous (Fra) Team DSM
0:04:54
11
Gaia Realini (Ita) Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria
0:05:27
12
Eider Merino Cortazar (Spa) A.R. Monex Women's Pro Cycling Team
0:05:29
13
Marta Cavalli (Ita) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
