Not even a crash on the final descent could stop Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) from winning stage 8 at the Giro Donne.
Wearing the maglia rosa as the overall race leader, the Dutchwoman overcooked a corner but got back up and on her bike, appearing to be unscathed, to take a solo win in Aldeno.
"I made a stupid, unnecessary mistake in the descent – sorry mum – but nothing happened. We made the maglia rosa more certain," Van Vleuten said, who appeared to only have minor scrapes on her arm after the race.
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Van Vleuten narrowly avoided a crash on stage 6 when Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) went down as the road surface changed from asphalt to cobblestones, and she had to brake hard and unclip her left foot to avoid falling.
She was not so fortunate this time around.
After attacking on the 9.3-kilometre final ascent to Lago di Cei, Van Vleuten bridged across to breakaway rider Kristen Faulkner (BikeExchange-Jayco), passed her, and began the descent to Aldeno alone.
She overshot a corner with 5km to go, hit a roadside post and then tumbled into the grass. She quickly got back on her bike and could celebrate the stage 8 victory, finishing 59 seconds ahead of runner-up Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope).
"Today was a good stage for us. I'm super happy to take the win, and extend my lead in the GC, a bit more strong in pink, the maglia rosa. The team did a super good job today and they did a lead-out, and it was a 10km-long sufferfest today uphill," Van Vleuten said, also noting the crash.
"I made a small mistake in the descent. I went fast and ... but I was happy because I felt that I could not make the corner and I chose for the grass instead of crashing on the road. It was a controlled crash, but not what I was wishing for. I'm all good and everything is fine with me. I look forward to tomorrow's stage."
Van Vleuten increased her lead in the overall classification. She now leads the race by 2:13 seconds over runner-up Cavalli, while Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) slipped to third place at 3:42 back, as the race heads into stage 9 from San Michele All’Adige to San Lorenzo Dorsino on Saturday.
She does it again! Not even a crash on the descent could stop @AvVleuten from taking a second #GiroDonne22 stage win and solidifying her dominant position at the top of the GC!Catch the full race replay on GCN+ https://t.co/8FSJcLL3Gx pic.twitter.com/O2yh8mJW4MJuly 8, 2022
