Nearly four and a half hours of raids and attacks in the Dolomites to fill a small, great gap. At the finish line in Santo Stefano di Cadore, Demi Vollering celebrates with a sense of relief after having achieved his first stage victory at the third participation in the Giro Women's cycling, another of her declared objectives for this season which has seen her win on seven other occasions so far.
The European champion of FDJ United-Suez beat the pink jersey (and her former partner and sport director) Van der Breggen, Niedermaier and Holmgren in a tight sprint, while Longo Borghini finished 15” behind, making up for a stage that at a certain point was about to go rather badly with great experienceReusser, on the other hand, paid a heavy price, dropping to fifth place overall, ahead of Longo Borghini.
The first pink stamp
If the Nevegal hill climb had expressed some verdicts, the current fraction in Cadore lent itself to a possible personal revenge or against the most direct opponents. The 146 kilometres and 3.400 metres of altitude difference could not remain indifferent to the women in the general classification.There was a desire to strike another blow before Saturday's all-or-nothing showdown at Colle delle Finestre.
The initial breakaway of the day had made clear the intentions of each of the big names, who had positioned a teammate ahead of them, but in the end it was the leaders who faced each other one-on-one. Vollering was waiting for this moment.
"The goal," the winner said in a press conference, "was to start early and have a few teammates up front as reference points. We had Amber and Lauren (Kraak and Dickson, respectively) and up to that point everything was perfect. As soon as I was able to find Lauren again, she did a great job for me again.It's incredible to see what he was able to do in his first major stage race. It's amazing how it's going so far, I have to thank her so much.
"When Trinca Colonel he extended his lead in the penultimate descent – continues Vollering in his analysis – it was important for me because I was able to relax a bit and concentrate on what was going to happen on the last climb and what he would sayIn the final I knew that Anna (Van der Breggen, ed.) and the others would try to make a break, so I stayed alert without getting caught off guard. Of course, I'm very happy with my first Giro victory. It's been a great season so far.».
Horizon… on the Windows
The impression is that the Giro Women's cycling It's still a long way to go. While tomorrow's stage in Brescello may seem like a hectic transfer day, don't underestimate Friday's finale, and consequently the many tough climbs that will be featured in the final two stages. The Colle delle Finestre promises to be the supreme judge before the finish line in Sestriere, but even Sunday's severe ramps can still whet the appetite. of those who will have remained empty-handed until that moment.
"There's still time to think about Saturday," Vollering points out. "I'm just thinking about enjoying the importance of this day and this victory. We're preparing day by day. Today for example I didn't wait for Longo Borghini and Reusser to stay with me and it's nice to know that I have a bit more of an advantage over them.At the same time, I also think that Anna still has a minute's lead over me, so we need to find a way to gain time on her, perhaps by exploiting any weaknesses she may have."
Anna's resistance
If we had to summarize the fifth stage of the Giro Women's cycling, we could almost say “much ado about nothing”. Vollering tried several times to catch Van der Breggen out of the running, but he managed the situation as he did when he was winning everything. before retiring. In fact, on the final descent towards Santo Stefano di Cadore, she set the pace, outpacing and intimidating her fellow adventurers.
«I defended myself – declares the pink jersey of SD Worx Protime – and I'm happy I survived this battleWe have a small team here (due to Wiebes' disqualification and Harvey's retirement, ed.) and we were under attack right from the start, as did Movistar. I couldn't chase every athlete, so I had to choose what to do without exhausting myself. It was fantastic to have Valentina (Cavallar, ed.) in the breakaway and then as support when we moved with the other leaders.
"They put me under pressure," Van der Breggen concludes, "and then I put some pressure on myself on the descent. I'm satisfied with today, even because I'm proud to be one of the oldest pink jerseys everThe new generations are achieving great results and in the three years I was sports director I saw this change clearly. I feel like I'm back to my normal level, even though it took me a while. Now I can manage my training better, both physically and mentally.I hope to keep this jersey until the end, but I know that there are still difficult days ahead."
Time Van der Breggen leads the overall standings by a minute on Vollering, 1'24” on Niedermaier, while Holmgren, Reusser and Longo Borghini are in that order over two minutesAnna said goodbye to us, laughing, and saying that she'll have no problem letting the escape succeed towards Brescello, but from Friday onwards she'll have her eyes on everyone.
