Giro Rosa: Van Vleuten wins stage 7 mountain time trial

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Annemiek Van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) won the stage 7 uphill time trial at the Giro Rosa on Thursday, covering the 15-kilometre course from Lanzada to Diga di Campo Moro in 46:06 , nearly two and a half minutes faster than her nearest competitor. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla) finished second, 2:29 slower, while Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) was third at 2:54.

Van Vleuten's performance moved her up into the overall race lead by 2:53 ahead of stage 6 winner and overnight leader Amanda Spratt, also Mitchelton-Scott, and 2:54 ahead of Moolman-Pasio.

How it happened

The start ramp was set up in the village of Lanzada in the Val Malenco, going up a steep road with numerous hairpins and several tunnels, some of which had a pavé surface, to the reservoirs of near Campo Moro as far as possible up the asphalted road to finish at an altitude of 2,000 metres.

The steepest section of the ascent came after about 9km when the road climbed at over 10 per cent for three kilometres, but with an altitude gain of 1,010 metres from start to finish, the whole climb was a challenging one.

Early starter Blanca Liliana Moreno (Astana Women's Team) stopped the clock at 52:28. This benchmark stood for some time, first being improved on by Anna Christian (Trek-Drops) in 51:31. Soon after, Alice Maria Arzuffi (Bizkaia Durango-Euskadi Murias) finished in 50:24, which was ultimately good enough for a ninth place.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5) was the first to break the 50-minute barrier with 49:34. With the overall top-10 all on the road, the battle for the stage win was on, and Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans) set a new best time, 49:23. South African climber Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla) cut almost a minute off that by finishing in 48:35.

Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) fell short of that mark in 49 minutes even, but the Dutchwoman was actually passed on the course by van Vleuten, who had started two minutes behind her. The time trial world champion was the only of 142 riders who used a time trial bike for the course, and she blasted up the climb like nobody else. At the finish, van Vleuten pulverised the previous best time, going almost two and a half minutes faster and stopping the clock at 46:06.

Race leader and Wednesday's stage winner Amanda Spratt was the last on the road, wearing the maglia rosa. At the finish, Spratt was 3:26 slower than her teammate, which was still good enough for fifth place on the stage. Van Vleuten took over the race lead from Spratt, the Australian kept a one-second advantage on Moolman-Pasio who is now third overall.

The Giro Rosa continues on Friday with a 126-kilometre stage around Breganze. There are two category 3 mountain sprints on an otherwise flat stage that could well finish in a sprint unless a break of riders who are far behind in the general classification is let off the leash and contests the stage.

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