Demi Vollering outsprinted her GC rivals to take her first ever stage win in the Giro d’Italia Women on stage five.
The FDJ United-SUEZ rider came in at the head of a four-rider group after a long day in the hills, with maglia rosa Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) second, Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) third and Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) fourth.
Van der Breggen retains the pink jersey.
Vollering said afterwards that the team plans had gone perfectly, but that the 146km from Longarone to Sante Stefano di Cadore had been a long, hard stage.
“I’m very happy to take the victory. It’s my first stage in the Giro so it’s a nice one,” she said.
“It was a really long and hard day. We started racing already very early – we wanted to have some riders from our team in the breakaway and we managed directly with Amber [Kraak] and Lauren [Dickson] like we planned, it was perfect.
“They did such an amazing job that before we came here on the last climb I still had Lauren in front of me. I managed to bridge and she did amazing work on the flat and on the first part of the climb again,” she said.
“Maybe I went a little bit too early, so I couldn’t make a difference any more on the climb, but it was a really nice day. We really raced with everything we had and it was a real battle out there.”
British rider Dickson, riding in her first year with FDJ United-SUEZ, was part of a major move of more than 20 riders that spent much of the day out ahead of the peloton. The 26-year-old was one of the last survivors, waiting for Vollering as the favourites group began to emerge from the peloton as the race approached the finishing circuit. This included two climbs up to Costa (4.3km at 8.6%) and a single pass through the finish before they came back round for the real thing.
Once over the Costa for the first time, the four-woman group that would eventually win the day had emerged fully, with the addition of Liv AlUla Jayco‘s Monica Trinca Colonel, who attempted to use her descending prowess to form a winning move, but was ultimately caught and tailed off.
A strong looking Vollering did more than her fair share on the front of the quartet on the final climb and, in Sante Stefano di Cadore following the descent, was also the first to jump in the finale – opening a small gap that none of her rivals could close.
Giro d’Italia Women, stage 5: Longarone > Sante Stefano di Cadore, 146km
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-SUEZ, 4:23:47
2. Anna van der Breggen (Ned)
3. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, all s.t.
4. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek, +2s
5. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE ADQ, +15s
6. Niamh Fisher-Black (Nzl) Lidl-Trek, at s.t.
7. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +53s
8. Magdeleine Vallieres (Can) EF Education-Oatly
9. Femke de Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, both s.t.
10. Lore de Schepper (Bel) AG Insurance-Soudal, +56s
General classification after stage 5
1. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) SD Worx–Protime, 15:55:13
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United–Suez, +1:00
3. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, +1:24
4. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek, +2:01
5. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +2:03
6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE ADQ, +2:12
7. Niamh Fisher-Black (Nzl) Lidl-Trek, +2:33
8. Femke de Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:38
9. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita) Liv AlUla Jayco, +3:21
10. Urška Žigart (Slo) AG Insurance-Soudal, +3:26
