Giro Donne: Annemiek van Vleuten solos into pink with emphatic stage 2 win

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Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) made the most of the Passo della Colla on stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia Donne to claim the first maglia rosa of the race following the cancellation of the previous day’s opening time trial.

The Dutchwoman attacked on the last part of the climb to go solo, win the stage and take the overall lead.

Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ) and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) tried to chase the world champion but were caught by the next group in the final kilometres. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) won the sprint for second against Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), 45 seconds behind Van Vleuten.

Taking the time bonuses into consideration, Van Vleuten now holds a 49-second GC lead on Uttrup Ludwig, with Labous third at 51 seconds and Longo Borghini fourth at 55 seconds.

“First of all, I think this is my hundredth UCI victory, so it’s really special to win this one. Especially in my favourite country to race, Italy, together with Spain, in the Giro, my favourite race, it’s unbelievable,” Van Vleuten was happy to celebrate a special milestone.

“It’s my last season and also my last Giro d’Italia, so it’s super nice to wear the pink jersey again in my last Giro d’Italia,” she said about the maglia rosa that she won in 2018, 2019, and 2022, setting herself up for a joint-record fourth GC win.

How it unfolded

Because of the cancellation of stage 1 due to extreme weather, there was no maglia rosa at the start of stage 2 in Bagno a Ripoli. The peloton faced 102.1 kilometres, most of which were flat to rolling, but the second-category Passo della Colla from Tuscany to Emilia-Romagna was a serious first test for the GC contenders.

Susanne Andersen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Irene Méndez (Bizkaia-Durango) formed the break of the day. They were up to 3:42 minutes ahead of the peloton, with Beatrice Pozzobon (Team Mendelspeck) and Giorgia Bariani (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) chasing in between.

Pozzobon and Bariani were reeled in 37.5 km from the finish, just before the intermediate sprint where Andersen took three bonus seconds ahead of Méndez while Eugénie Duval (FDJ-SUEZ) led the peloton over the sprint for the last bonus second.

With 30 km to go, the peloton had reduced the gap to two minutes, with Movistar, AG Insurance-Soudal Quick Step, Jayco AlUla, and dsm-firmenich doing most of the work. When the climb of the Passo della Colla began with relatively easy gradients, Andersen and Méndez were caught, but unfortunately a local thunderstorm interrupted the live footage from the race.

As the climb kicked up, the peloton was reduced to about 30 riders. Longo Borghini, Realini, and Van Vleuten set the pace, further reducing the group to only 13 riders, and then Van Vleuten attacked on the steepest part of the climb, with nobody else able to follow her.

Van Vleuten crested the climb 36 seconds ahead of Cavalli and Realini. The next group with Longo Borghini, Uttrup Ludwig, Labous, Ane Santesteban (Team Jayco-AlUla), Mavi García (Liv Racing TeqFind), Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ), Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), and Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) was further behind but made up ground on the descent, catching Realini and Cavalli 5.2 km from the finish.

Van Vleuten had extended her lead on the way to the finish in Marradi, winning solo and taking the maglia rosa as well as the lead in the points and mountain classifications. Uttrup Ludwig will wear the maglia ciclamino on her behalf on stage 3 while Cavalli will wear the maglia verde.

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