"Unfortunately I went down yesterday. I’m bruised but not broken.It was probably the worst thinkable start to the Giro. We lost a lot of time in the GC BUT we haven’t lost the will to battle! We live to fight another day," Uttrup Ludwig said.
The Giro d'Italia Donne kicked off on Friday with a 26.7km team time trial that started in Fossano and finished in Cuneo. Trek-Segafredo covered the route in a winning time of 33:40 beating SD Worx by eight seconds and Ale BTC Ljubljana by 40 seconds.
FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope finished the team time trial in 12th place at 1:46 behind Trek-Segafredo with Uttrup Ludwig now positioned 51st place in the overall classification.
The team later confirmed that Uttrup Ludwig crashed during the opening kilometres of the race and that they also had a midd-race mechanical. Uttrup Ludwig got back on her bike and finished as the fourth rider along with Evita Muzic, Brodie Chapman, Eugenie Duval, all 1:46 down. Marta Cavalli finished 3:58 down and Maëlle Grossetête finished7:59 down.
"Team was not spared by bad luck…" FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine confirmed. "A complicated 1st day in Italy, on the team time trial, a crash at the start and a flat tire will have made the race difficult. But the team didn't let go, resulting in a 12th place at the finish, 1min45 behind Trek-Segafredo, winner of this stage."
The Giro d'Italia Donne continues on Saturday with stage 2's 100.1km race from Boves to the first mountaintop finish at Prato Nevoso.
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Kirsten Frattini has been the Editor of Cyclingnews since December 2025, overseeing editorial operations and output across the brand and delivering quality, engaging content.
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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.
