Giro Rosa: Van der Breggen wins overall title

Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv) won the overall title at the Giro Rosa on Sunday, following in the footsteps of her teammate Marianne Vos, who won the 2014 edition but could not participate this year due to an injury. "It's really incredible to win the Giro. It's like a dream," Van der Breggen said. "It's the best victory in my career so far."

Wiggle-Honda's Mara Abbott, a former two-time winner of the Giro Rosa, won the final stage that ended on a 13km climb to San Domenico di Varzo, a stage that she had also won in 2013. Van der Breggen crossed the finish line in second place 55 seconds down and Flavia Oliviera (Ale Cipollini) finish third 1:13 back. 

"Of course I was intense, before and during the stage" Van der Breggen said. "When Mara rode away, I felt pretty safe. I let her more or less go away, because I deliberately chose my own pace. I no longer wanted to force it because there is a danger that you reach a certain point and then it can still go wrong. I had it more or less under control."

Van der Breggen started the day in the overall lead after winning the stage 8 time trial. Abbott, who was in fifth place and 2:29 behind the Dutchwoman at the start of the stage, gained some time back on the final climb but it wasn't enough to knock her out of the top spot in the rankings. Van der Breggen won the title by 1:30 ahead of Abbott and 1:43 ahead of Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans).

The Giro Rosa ended with a 92.7km race that began in Verbania and finished on the 13km climb to San Domenico di Varzo, in what was one of the hardest stages of the 10 days. 

A breakaway headed toward the final climb that included Annemiek Van Vleuten (Bigla), Shara Gillow (Rabo-Liv), Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle-Honda), Chloe Mcconville and Valentina Scandolara (Orica-AIS), Jasinska Malgorzta, Uenia Fernandes Da Souza and Marta Tagliaferro (Ale Cipollini), Asja Paladin and Chiara Pierobon (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), Anisha Vekemans (Lotto Soudal Ladies) and Silvia Valsecchi (Bepink Laclassica).

The breakaway disintegrated and a select group emerged that included both Abbott and Van der Breggen. Abbott attacked her rivals with three kilometres to the finish line. She proved to be the strongest climber of the day, crossing the line on her own by nearly a minute with the stage victory, and securing second place overall. 

“This was a really amazing way to finish the Giro,” Abbott said. “I am so grateful to the team for having faith in me until the end. The whole team was amazing, they took care of me all day. I was very proud to be following Giorgia Bronzini’s wheel! It meant a lot to me. 

“I knew that there was a big gap to win the overall, but anything can happen,” Abbott said. “I’m really happy to get the team on the podium for the overall.”

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