Marianne Vos announced this morning that she will be leaving the Giro Donne after an impressive sprint win on stage 6 from a breakaway group of 11.
"I'm happy with my two wins," a statement from Vos said on Twitter. "I'm going to recharge now and focus on the next team goals."
We expect the Dutch all-rounder will be turning her focus to the Tour de France Femmes, after taking her 32nd stage at the Giro Donne, but sitting back 10:51 in the general classification at the Italian race.
“I’m still catching my breath,” said Vos after the finish of yesterday's stage. “It was all the time trying to stay in front before the climb on the local lap, and then it was already a sprint before we hit the last climb, another sprint up the climb, and then another sprint here to the line. It was quite hard, but it’s very nice to take the victory.
"The team had a lot of confidence and trust in me, then you really want to finish it off. You can’t expect to take two victories in the Giro Donne, and the pressure was off after the first one, but there’s always a next chance, and you want to go for that. I am very happy that it worked out."
The sprint unfolded after a crash at the flamme rouge held up a number of riders. Vos beat Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx) and Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) to the line. Vos' countrywoman, Annemiek van Vleuten, defended the maglia rosa going into stage 7.
Vos took her 31st win on stage 3, following a fight to the line with Elisa Balsamo. It was a reversal of stage 2, where Balsamo was able to hold on for the victory. The two have a pair of wins each at the race.
Vos' victory on stage 3 was her first win of the road season, but with three big climbing stages in succession the Dutchwoman has opted to depart the race and re-focus ahead of her next major goal of the season - the Tour de France Femmes.
Victories 31 and 32 came fifteen years after her first win at the Giro d'Italia Donne, in 2007. In eleven participations at the race, she has won the overall classification three times, and has won almost a third of the stages she has competed in.
