Giro Rosa: Lotte Kopecky wins stage 7 as Van Vleuten crashes in finale

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Lotte Kopecky (Lotto Soudal) has won stage 7 of the Giro Rosa, beating Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) in the sprint of a small group after an action-packed finale.

A crash took down the maglia rosa leader Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) and Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv), along with Van Vleuten's teammate Amanda Spratt. Van Vleuten got the winner's time due the 3km rule and kept the leader's jersey, however, she was forced to abandon the race due to a fracture in her left wrist. Spratt was also forced to abandon due to a shoulder injury and concussion.

Vos has suffered abrasions but no fractures, according to CCC-Liv.

“The stage was going well for us, the breakaway went away early before it eventually came back on the final final lap. There were some attacks over the last climb and we had Annemiek and Spratty in the small group off the front," said Mitchelton-Scott director Andrew Smith. "Then unfortunately they both came down in a crash inside the final kilometre and have been taken to hospital for scans on their injuries."

On the first of two laps of a finishing circuit with a 4-kilometre climb, Maria Novolodskaya (Cogeas Mettler Look) had attacked out of the breakaway, but the Russian was caught as she reached the climb on the final lap.

A group of favourites emerged on the climb, but on the descent, things came back together, and about 25 riders entered the last kilometres. 

How it unfolded

Two riders got away very early on the 112km stage. Silvia Zanardi (BePink) and Ainara Elbusto (Cronos-Casa Dorada) quickly built an advantage of 4:40 minutes, the peloton giving them free rein for now.

This changed, though, as three riders attacked. Alison Jackson (Team Sunweb), Maria Novolodskaya (Cogeas Mettler Look), and Aude Biannic (Movistar Team) were dangerous enough for the peloton to start chasing, keeping the three chasers at less than 30 seconds for a long time and consequently reducing the gap to the front of the race to about two minutes.

Eventually, the peloton relented, and the chasing trio bridged to the two leaders, forming a breakaway of five riders. With 36km to go, crossing the finish line in Maddaloni for the first time to start the first lap of the finishing circuit, they were 2:10 minutes ahead.

On the climb to the Santuario San Michele Arcangelo overlooking the finish town, Novolodskaya attacked. Her former companions were caught after the descent, but the Russian still held a one-minute advantage when she crossed the finish line to start the final lap.

However, with the peloton in hot pursuit, Novolodskaya’s solo was doomed, and she was reeled in at the start of the climb. Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) went hard from the bottom, splitting up the peloton. She was joined by a select group including Van Vleuten, Niewiadoma, Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb), and Vos.

After a counterattack by Van der Breggen was brought back, more riders came up to the group from behind, and 26 riders crested the climb together. Uttrup Ludwig won the mountain sprint, padding her lead in the mountain jersey competition.

There were a few attempts to get away on the flat run-in to the finish, but those moves were shut down quickly, and it looked as if the stage would be decided in a group sprint. Soraya Paladin took to the front to keep things together for Vos, but 1200 metres from the finish, a small swerve by the Italian travelled down the group, leading to a touch of wheels that made Van Vleuten, Vos, Margarita Victoria Garcia (Alé BTC Ljubljana), Omer Shapira (Canyon-SRAM), Erica Magnaldi (Ceratizit-WNT), and Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) crash and held up several other riders.

On the slightly uphill finishing straight, Kopecky came around the final corner in perfect position, started her sprint early and easily distanced Deignan and Niewiadoma. Van Vleuten, Vos, and the other crashed riders finished some way behind, but received the winner’s time as the crash happened within the final 3km. Though Van Vleuten kept the pink jersey, she will not be able to start stage 8 due to her injuries.

Watch the stage 7 highlights video from the Giro Rosa.

Visit Cyclingnews' dedicated women's page (opens in new tab) for full reports, results, news, features and galleries from the 2020 Giro Rosa.