Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) and Coryn Rivera (Team DSM) went head-to-head in another battle of the sprinters at stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia Donne. Rivera was disappointed to have been pipped at the line by the Danish sprinter, but says she's proud of her team's effort to get her in a position to win. She is also showing top form ahead of the Olympic Games later in July.
“It was another great teamwork day today,” explained Coryn after the stage 6. “The girls, especially Leah [Kirchmann], controlled the two riders that were off the front earlier in the stage. It was a long day in the saddle and was the longest stage of the Giro in fact. We controlled it and brought the break back in the last 15 kilometres," Rivera said.
"The girls did a really good lead-out in the end, including Lorena [Wiebes], and they got us some really high speed on what was a bit of downhill finish and I just got pipped on the line. I’m proud of our teamwork today and our ability to adjust and execute the plan. We can still be proud of the finish today.”
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Her second-place performance in at the Giro d'Italia Donne was one of her best this year after a delayed start to the season that saw her playing catch up through the Ardennes Classics.
Rivera was then named to the four-rider team that will represent the US in the road race at the Tokyo Olympic Games; including Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM), Leah Thomas (Movistar) and Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo).
She has made it a point to be on form for the Giro d'Italia Donne that ends on July 11 and into the Olympic Games road race on July 25.
The women's 137km race will start from Musashinonomori Park and end at the Fuji International Speedway. The course will not go over Mt. Fuji like the men's but will include climbs over Donushi Road and Kagosaka Pass, and total 2,692 meters of climbing.
"The course is challenging but it doesn’t have one massive climb," Rivera said. "I think we have a great shot. Ruth has shown that she is on really good form this year, and so has Leah. I think we might be underdogs compared to the Dutch team, but we still have a shot at a medal."
Rivera is going for the punchy sprint stages at the Giro d'Italia Donne, but she is far from being just a sprinter. She has had a successful career with victories at the hilly one-day races Tour of Flanders and Trofeo Alfredo Binda (both in 2017), and she won the overall title at the Women’s Tour (2018). She’s also had strong performances at the World Championships; 31st after being in a breakaway in a mountainous Innsbruck 2018 and 10th at the hilly edition in Yorkshire 2019.
