Jul 04, 2023 at 2:54 PMUpdate: 3 minutes ago
Annemiek van Vleuten strengthened her lead on Tuesday in the fourth stage of the Giro Donne. Movistar’s rosette wearer escaped a fall and saw her major competitor Elisa Longo Borghini fall hard a little later.
Van Vleuten and Longo Borghini were chasing Antonia Niedermaier on the last climb of the queen stage. The Dutch accelerated at the top and did everything in its power to catch the German escapee on the descent to the finish in Ceres. That’s where it went wrong.
First Van Vleuten flew out of the corner. She was able to stay and sit on her bike wonderfully and hardly lost any time. A few seconds later, Longo Borghini did fall. The Italian tumbled down quite a bit, but was able to continue her way a little later.
Twenty-year-old Niedermaier took advantage of these incidents, maintained her lead and recorded her fourth professional victory. Van Vleuten crossed the line in second place nine seconds later. Number three Niamh Fisher-Black gave in to Niedermaier for almost a minute and a half.
Forty-year-old Van Vleuten thus strengthens her leading position in the Giro Donne. Niedermaier has risen to second place, but is more than two minutes behind. American Veronica Ewers is third in the overall standings.
Van Vleuten already won the Vuelta earlier this year and will start in the Tour in a few weeks. Last season she managed to win all three major rounds. Van Vleuten can therefore repeat that trick in her farewell year.
The Giro Donne lasts until Sunday. In the next two stages there is again a lot of climbing on the program, followed by a rest day on Friday.
2023-07-04 12:54:05
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