Giro Rosa: Van Vleuten wins stage 5 time trial in Sant'elpidio a Mare

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Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) time trialled to victory in Sante'elpidio a Mare on Tuesday putting an astounding 41-seconds into second place, race leader Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans). The Giro Rosa stage 5 winner suffered a 2:42 time loss on Monday's stage 4, and her win on Tuesday will undoubtedly offer a sense of vindication and opportunity.

"We had a really good preparation for this time trial," said Van Vleuten in her team's race report. "That was really good for my confidence going into this stage. Of course, you also need good legs, but I have been feeling really good throughout the Giro, and I showed that today.

"I was super disappointed yesterday, but I managed to stay focused, and I know today was a chance to take some time back."

In typical Giro Rosa fashion, the profile for the 12.73 kilometre time trial appeared gentle. In reality the stage included enough elevation gain that riders opted to contest the effort on their road bikes. The route included the short but leg-breaking Muro di Cocciari where gradient tops out at 30 percent.

"We had some laughs about the profile in the book," Van der Breggen told Cyclingnews. "This extreme TT looked like it was almost flat in the profile. To be honest, I think it was a bit too much. The girls who aren't going for the general classification or a good TT result had no option to save themselves."

Monika Kiraly (S.C Michela Fanini Rox) was quickest in the first half of the race. The Hungarian stopped the clock at 28:31. Stage three winner Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) was the first to break the 28-minute barrier, setting a new standard of 27:42 for those that followed.

As Van Vleuten, fourth from last to start, headed home, her teammate Amanda Spratt held the best time of 27:17. The Dutch time trial champion smashed Spratt's time with an unbeatable 25:29.

Defending champion Megan Guarnier finished two minutes slower than Van Vleuten in 27:22 and would slip down one spot – to fourth – by stage end. Newly crowned Italian time trial champion Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5) cracked 27 minutes, stopping the clock at 26:44. Her effort would ultimately keep her in second overall.

Only Van der Breggen remained out on the road. She won her Giro Rosa title two years ago on the penultimate stage time trial. On Tuesday she set a time quick enough to comfortably pad her advantage over most of her rivals. Van der Breggen's time of 26:10 was 41 seconds slower than Van Veuten but 34 seconds quicker than Longo Borghini and more than a minute faster than Spratt.

Heading into the second half of the 10-day Italian tour, Van der Breggen carries a one-minute advantage over Longo Borghini in second. Van Vleuten jumped up to third where she now sits 1:36. Guarnier, who moved onto the provisional podium on Monday, slipped back to fourth place more than three minutes behind her teammate and 90 seconds off the podium. Spratt is fifth overall at 3:59, giving both Boels-Dolmans and Orica-Scott two riders in the top five at the mid-point of the race.

"It was a good day for the general classification, winning some seconds on everybody but Annemiek, who came a bit closer after a good time trial," said Van der Breggen. "The time gap on GC is still a lot, but today gives me more confidence," said Van Vleuten. "We will look at things day-by-day. I learnt the lesson the hard way yesterday not to switch off on flat stages, so tomorrow I will be really focused."

The Giro Rosa continues tomorrow with a four-lap circuit race in and around Roseta degli Abruzzi. The sprinters are expected to come to fore following the 116-kilometre day, but at the Giro Rosa, where the unexpected is expected, a sprint cannot be assumed.

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