How the race finished
Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) won the final stage of the Giro Donne ahead of Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) and Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance Soudal Quickstep).
Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) sealed the overall victory, with Juliette Labous (Team dsm firmenich) and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) rounding out the General Classification podium positions.
Full results are available below.
How it happened
The final day of racing at the Giro Donne took the riders 126.5km from Sassari to Olbia. On paper it looked set to be a stage for the sprinters, but with two categorised climbs and rolling terrain all day, there could be a tussle for the minor placings in the general classification.
With temperatures high again, the peloton was still all together over the first categorised climb of the day. A few attacks peppered the opening part of the stage, but generally things were quiet. At the intermediate sprint in Perfugas, Veronica Ewers (EF Education TIBCO SVB) took one bonus second behind the UAE Team ADQ pair of Bertizzolo and Persico, putting her on back on the same time as Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ), tied in fourth position on the general classification.
On the lower slopes of the major climb up to Tempio Pausania the attacks started to come more frequently. The trio of Giorgia Vettorello (BePink Gold), Beatrice Rossato (Isolmant Premac Vittoria) and Alessia Vigilia (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) got clear, but as Karlijn Swinkels (Jumbo Visma) joined them the group were brought back. Iris Monticolo (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) launched over the top, and then a counter move came from Anna Kiesenhofer (Israel Premier Tech Roland) who comfortably made it across to Monticolo, before continuing over the top solo.
Kiesenhofer continued solo as the road pitched up more steeply, but was reeled back in with 53km to go. With a few kilometres of uphill still remaining, FDJ-Suez kicked off the attacks in the peloton. Cecile Uttrup Ludwig jumped, drawing a group away including three Movistar riders. After the group was deemed too dangerous to be allowed to go clear, FDJ-Suez went on the attack again, this time with Marie le Net. Niamh Fisher-Black closed it down for SD Worx, before Elena Pirrone (Israel Premier Tech Roland) went over the top with Vigilia on her wheel. They too were reabsorbed by the peloton.
After a slight lull as the road descended, Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance Soudal Quickstep) put the power down over a small rise, but Liane Lippert (Movistar) took a flyer over the top, completely committing to her attack. Fisher-Black (SD Worx) tried to bridge, but was brought back by the peloton. Marta Cavalli (FDJ-Suez) also tried to bridge, but Lippert held her off. Eventually it was Blanka Vas (SD Worx) who drew the strung out peloton across to Lippert, just before the road went downhill again.
On the descent Vas pushed on, initially getting a small gap but being unable to capitalise on it. For the third time today Alessia Vigilia jumped again, and this time found herself solo off the front of the race. Vigilia held off the chasing peloton until around 5km to go.
Into the closing kilometres it seemed we were going to get a sprint finish afterall. Teams lined out across the road, with Jumbo-Visma, dsm firmenich and Uno-X Pro Cycling all visible on the front. Canyon//Sram Racing, FDJ-Suez and UAE Team ADQ moved up late, with Sarah Roy taking a huge pull on the front for Canyon//Sram. Rachele Barbieri (Liv Racing TeqFind) kicked early, forcing Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance Soudal Quickstep) and Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) to get out of the saddle. Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) found herself slightly boxed in, and once she was able to find a clear line didn’t have the speed to come around Consonni, who took it all the way to the line. Ally Wollaston held on for third, taking her first World Tour podium.
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Final Classification
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