Giro Rosa 2017 – Stage 5 Preview

Jul 3
cyclical

It was the width of a tyre between success and frustration in stage 4 of the Giro Rosa in Occhiobello, and a little inattention that cost Annemiek Van Vleuten almost two minutes in the overall battle.

Stage 4 review

Chloe Hosking threw her arms up on the line, and even got the congratulations of Belgian champion Joilen d’Hoore, but it was the Wiggle-High5 rider who got the stage after the photo-finish was checked.

A big win for d’Hoore, and a massive disappointment for Hosking and her Alé Cipollini team; arguably the biggest Italian squad, racing at home, and two glorious chances for a stage win missed. Hosking is now under pressure for stages 6 and 9, and her squad will have to work super-hard to control the days where she has a chance.

This stage was pan-flat, and the riders hammered through at 39.9km/h giving little chance for a breakaway to get established on the short 118-kilometer stage. It was the crosswinds of the second part of the stage that caused the biggest problems. Boels-Dolmans raced it like a northern Classic, piloted by the racing nous of Lizzie Deignan, and put all their riders to the front inside 50 kilometers to go.

Once they put the hammer down, the peloton split and Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) was on the wrong side of the split and eventually lost two minutes.

Van Der Breggen was exactly where she needed to be, and Boels protected her, defending champion Megan Guarnier and Amalie Dideriksen, giving them a strong hand to play in the tough second half of the Giro Rosa.

Stage 5 preview

There don’t seem to be that many opportunities to make a difference as an individual on the route this year, but today’s ITT is definitely one of them. Sant’Elpidio a Mare sits on top of a hill, and looks out over the Adriatic, so there could be on-shore breezes to add into the mix.

The roadbook describes today’s stage as “… a challenging individual chronometer with two very difficult tear-offs: Via Santa Lucia and Via dei Cocciari.” The closing climb on the ride to the finish, hitting gradients of over 20% in a short, sharp 300-meter ascent, before the course levels off a little.

We’ve only got 12.5 kilometers to race on this stage, but it should be enough for the overall contenders with real experience and ability against the watch to give rivals food for thought. The first half of the course is a south-westerly ride, in a more or less straight line. In the second half of the stage, the road twists and loops back on itself.

Annemiek Van Vleuten (Dutch TT champion) has significant work to do if she’s to claw back time on overall leader Anna Van Der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans), while Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5, and Italian TT champion) will fancy her chances of at least closing the gap to the Dutchwoman. However, it might not necessarily be those names on top of the podium for the stage win. Depending on how she is going, a rider like former World TT champion Lisa Brennauer could pull off the win.