Brand gets second Giro Rosa stage win in Loano

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Lucinda Brand (Rabo-Liv) won her second victory at the Giro Rosa on stage 7, achieving a third win for the team and regaining her lead in the purple jersey points classification from previously sharing it with Megan Guarnier. Brand closed the stage, descending at full throttle to the finish ahead by 02:41 in front of the second place finisher and maglia rosa, Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans) and Ashlegh Moolman-Pasio (Bigla Pro Cycling) in third.

Moolman-Pasio earned four seconds finishing runner-up Friday, moving her to second on GC. The overall remains close heading into the final two stages, with only 16 seconds between Guarnier and Moolman-Pasio, and one second ahead of Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv) sitting in third.

“The first climb was hard,” Brand said. “In the final climb, I was about to get dropped but then I went directly to keep on racing, they didn’t react and gave me a really big advantage.”

The attacks began shortly before the first climb of the day over Naso di Gatto that saw a significantly reduced peloton, including GC contenders, left to fight for the stage. The route was the shortest of the week, at only 89.7 km but made for a difficult day with the climbs. A chasing group of roughly 20 riders later caught the break, only to lose contact once again ascending the final climb up Rialto.

Cresting Rialto before the finish into Loano, Brand had gained 55 seconds on her opponents before displaying her descending skills. “It was a beautiful piece of Lucinda descending,” Koos Moerenhout said, directeur sportif of the team. “She goes down so hard that nobody can follow. She has superb cornering technique and absolutely no fear.”

The chase displayed a battle of the climbers fighting for the GC, including van de Breggen, Mayuko Hagiwara, and previous two-time Giro Rosa winner, Mara Abbot. Abbott tried to gain time ahead of Sunday but was unable in the end. Guarnier fought to keep the maglia rosa, keeping calm as she responded to attacks, winning the sprint for second and bonus time on the line. Hagiwara crashed on the descent but was able to finish the stage, but dropped out of GC contention. 

Two stages remain at the Giro Rosa with the challenging 21.7km time trial tomorrow from Pisano to Nebbiuno, and the toughest stage of the race on Sunday where the riders will finish the Giro up a 13 km climb.

Results

GPM 1.Cat. - Savona Naso di Gatto

GPM 3.Cat. - Rialto

General Classification

Points Classification

Mountains Classification

Best Young Rider