Guarnier wins 2016 Giro Rosa

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Thalita De Jong (Rabo-Liv) stormed to the stage 9 victory, the final day of the Giro Rosa. The cyclo-cross world champion was the strongest of a nine-rider breakaway that made it to the final five-kilometre climb with over a minute on the main field. She made her winning move over the top and powered to the finish line to take the stage win by more than minute ahead of Riejanne Markus (Liv Plantur) and Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Lensworld-Zannata).

Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) wrapped up the 2016 edition of the race with the overall victory, the second American to win the Giro Rosa after Mara Abbott’s two wins. She finished ahead of her teammate Evelyn Stevens, while last year’s overall winner Anna van der Breggen (Rabo Liv) finished third.

Overall, it was a successful race for Boels-Dolmans. The team took three stage wins, spent seven days in the maglia rosa before sealing the overall title.

How it unfolded

The last day of the Giro Rosa, travelled along the breathtaking coastline of Lago Maggiore. The 104.4km race started and finished in Verbania, home of Wiggle High5 rider Elisa Longo Borghini. It began with three 30km circuits through Mergozzo and San Domenico Verbano. But it was the final lap that was hosted a climb over Bèe (Category 2 - 591 m) that ascended to the finish line in Pallanza.

Guarnier went into the final stage with a healthy lead in the overall classification, 34 seconds ahead of teammate Stevens and 1:53 over Van der Breggen in third.

A breakaway formed that included nine riders, and although a chase group of six had formed behind them, it was snuffed out and reabsorbed into the field.

The breakaway included former Giro Rosa stage winner Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle High5), Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Cylance), Lauren Kitchen (HItec), Thalita de Jong (Rabo Liv), Charlotte Bravard (Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.86), Ingrid Ingrid Drexel (Astana), Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Lensworld-Zannata), Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Ale Cipollini) and Riejanne Markus (Liv Plantur).

With no threat to Guarnier’s overall classification lead, the peloton, and particularly (Boels-Dolmans), allowed the breakaway to extend their lead to over five minutes by the end of the second lap and 45km to go. The breakaway stuck for the duration of the race.

The leaders hit the bottom of the final climb, which was five kilometres and about an eight per cent grade. They maintained a lead of roughly 3:30 on the peloton.

De Jong attacked her breakaway companions and built up six seconds over the top of the climb, but the gap from the rest of the breakaway to the field had significantly reduced to 1:20.

De Jong’s small lead was all she needed to power through the final three kilometres and take the final stage win of the 2016 Giro Rosa in Verbania, while Guarnier wrapped up the race with the overall victory.

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