The Movistar rider Annemiek van Vleuten is the leader of the women’s Giro after finishing this Tuesday the fourth stage of the Italian race, 105 kilometers long, between Salassa and Ceres, in second place, behind the young German Antonia Niedermaier, from the team Canyon.
The “queen” stage of the Giro was propitious for the Movistar cyclist to give another “blow” of authority and so it was; In addition, one of the runners who could “discuss” the victory, the Italian Elisa Longo, winner yesterday, suffered a spectacular fall in the final stretch of the stage and although she reached the finish line, she did so greatly diminished and ran out of options.
The layout of the stage included the toughest climb, first class, in the first part of the race, with which Van Vleuten and other of the first classified were left alone.
The Dutchwoman even had a couple of starts that gave the impression that she wanted to win alone, but she did not force herself any further and for this reason, before the second port of the stage, they joined a dozen cyclists, including other favorites such as Elisa Longo. , the German Ludwing or the Spanish Mavi García and Ane Santesteban.
But the race still gave way to more, first with the attack by Niedermaier, to which Van Vleuten and Longo responded shortly after, on the ascent to the Sant’Ignazio pass; the two went for the German, with very little margin to reach it before the finish line and that is why they took a risk on the descent.
Both had problems, but while the Dutch woman managed to correct her trajectory, the Italian went straight and suffered a spectacular fall, although she managed to get back on the bike and finish the stage, although she is now running out of options in the general classification, in the absence of see if tomorrow can go out.
Finally Niedermaier achieved his first victory in the Giro, after three hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds of travel, while Van Vleuten was second with nine seconds behind.
The Australian from Worx, Niamh Fisher, was third at 1:26, while among the first overall Mavi García (Teqfind) was seventh at 2:01, while Ane Santesteban (Jayco) finished in 14th place, behind 3:19.
In the general classification, the Movistar Van Vleuten runner remains first, now with a 2:07 advantage over the 20-year-old Niedermaier, and the North American Verónica Ewers, from Education, is third, at 2:18; Mavi García remains sixth, at 3:39 and Ante Santesteban is ninth at 4:57.
Tomorrow’s stage, starting and finishing in the town of Canelli, is 105 kilometers long, practically flat, although the peloton must climb three third-category ports in the final stretch, the last one at the finish line.
