Lorena Wiebes has been unstoppable this season, the 22-year-old has amassed 10 wins already, including her first Giro d'Italia Donne stage Tuesday.
Her team, DSM, contributed significantly to the efforts to bring back a breakaway, then the Giro debutante benefitted from a strong lead out, first from Leah Kirchmann and then experienced sprinter Coryn Rivera, who picked up the role in the final of the race.
"The team did such a good job the whole stage, keeping control of things," said Wiebes. "We once again did a super lead out. After the last corner the girls put the speed really high, especially Coryn in the finale, so that I only had to sprint for the last 150 metres: it was amazing."
Wiebes will have another shot at a stage win on the flat run-in from San Vendemiano to Mortegliano on stage 8. If the race that day comes down to a bunch sprint, it will likely be a repeat battle for the line between Wiebes and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team), who finished second on stage 5.
In the coming days, however, Wiebes will also put herself into a domestique role for her teammates, in particular her main lead-out woman, the punchier Rivera.
"Tomorrow is a nice day for Coryn because she is better in the hills. There is another flat stage later, I will go for that. We have a strong team with the other girls as well and will go for more stage wins," Wiebes commented after the stage. "We have a really strong team here so we'll keep fighting for more stage wins at the race."
As well as hunting for stages, Team DSM also have a rider in the top 10 on GC in the form of Juliette Labous, who will also go on to represent France at the Tokyo Olympic Games after this race. Labous currently sits in eighth on the general classification, 7:03 down on Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx).
Wiebes first rose to prominence in 2019, while riding for Team Parkhotel Valkenburg. That season saw the then-20-year-old take 15 wins including all three stages and classifications at the 2.WWT Tour of Chongming Island and the 1.WWT Prudential RideLondon. Wiebes then signed for her current team mid-way through the season on a four-year contract.
Today's stage was the third time this season that Wiebes has beaten her rival, Norsgaard. In the absence of other fast finishers such as A.R Monex's Arlenis Sierra, Movistar's Sheyla Gutierrez, Valcar Travel & Service rider Chiara Consonni, and Bizkaia Durango's Sandra Alonso, who are all out of the race, the pair have a clear run between them in pure sprint finishes at this race.
