Anna Van der Breggen wins the Giro Rosa

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Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans) brought home the overall victory in the 2020 Giro Rosa, finishing the final stage behind the breakaway with a punch in the air to celebrate winning the race for the third time in her career.

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) stepped up onto the final general classification podium in second and top Italian contender Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) held on to third in a tight battle with Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig ((FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope).

Young French rider Evita Muzic (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) outrode her breakaway companions to take victory on the final stage and deliver her first Women’s WorldTour win.

The 21-year-old Muzic powered her way up the paved climb to the stage 9 finish line just ahead of New Zealand champion Niamh Fisher-Black (Equipe Paule Ka) and last year’s white jersey winner Juliette Labous (Team Sunweb). All had been in the early break of 27 riders that was established on the very first lap of the four-lap 109.5 kilometre final stage.

Riders from the shattered break continued to trickle in before the GC contenders crossed the Motta Montecorvino finish line and Dutch champion van der Breggen safely secured another title to add to the ones she won back in 2015 and 2017.

“I’m really happy of course. It is special to win the Giro, also the last day is always a bit exciting. The gaps were pretty big, but still it was a hard lap,” said van der Breggen, who has now stood on the final overall Giro Rosa podium six times. 

This COVID-19-delayed edition of the Giro Rosa was expected to be a close battle, with no individual time trial and a course lighter on long climbs. Although from stage 2, dominant two-time defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) looked set for another comfortable win until she had to withdraw from the race after a crash on the run in to the line on stage 7, which broke her wrist and ended her Giro Rosa.

The last two years van Vleuten has held a hefty lead into the last stage of the Giro Rosa, with her closest rival more than three minutes behind. This year as we entered the final stage, the top five were all within three minutes of the Maglia Rosa, though there was no doubt that a 1:10 gap to van der Breggen would still be hard for her rivals to overcome.

How it unfolded

This was never going to be a ceremonial final stage, not with the constant up and down as the riders traversed four laps of the 27.5km course to and from Motta Montecorvino.

It was no surprise then that as soon as racing started, so did the attempts to get off the front. Not even 10 kilometres completed and riders were being dropped as the race took its first pass of the Volturino climb. 

In a move that stuck, Jelena Eric (Movistar) escaped on the long descent. Once she reached the flat it was hard going, riding in the wind alone, and by the time the race was through the first circuit a chasing group of 26 had caught the leader. 

The bunch seemed happy to let the lead group ride away as there were no contenders for the overall among it. It was a mix of riders hunting the stage victory, like Mitchelton-Scott’s Lucy Kennedy, and the teammates of the GC contenders, such as US champion Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo), who were aiming to leap ahead of the main group so they could be of some assistance later if the GC battle heated up.

Through the second lap the composition of the lead group fluctuated, as it split, reformed and shed some riders, but the gap continued to grow. By the time they were into the third lap there were 22 riders out the front with five minutes lead and as they headed into the final lap, it became clear that the winner would come from the break. 

With a stage victory to fight for, the attacks came thick and fast, with the group splitting and reforming until finally there were seven out the front in the final kilometre. Fisher-Black, Muzic, Labous, Katia Ragusa (Astana), Ellen Van Dijk (Trek Segafredo), Erica Magnaldi (Ceratizit-WNT Pro) and Sabrina Stultiens (CCC-Liv) charged toward the line. 

It was Muzic, who had been riding in support of Uttrup-Ludwig through the rest of the Giro Rosa, that had that little something extra still in reserve on the final climb and managed to edge over the line first.

“I had my chance and Brodie (Chapman) did a very very good job,” said Muzic of her teammate after the stage. “She did the whole climb full gas so I had to win for the team and for her, so I’m just happy.”  

The win moved Muzic up to 10th on the GC and second in the youth classification behind Mikayla Harvey (Equipe Paule Ka). The 22-year-old New Zealander has stepped up a level this year climb into fifth on the Giro Rosa overall from 32nd last year. 

Uttrup Ludwig secured the Mountains Classification, Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv) the points jersey and CCC-Liv the teams competition.