Race News

Giro Rosa Stage 3: British Rider Hannah Barnes Claims Stage Three Win

We saw the first fierce bunch sprint finish of the Giro Rosa 2017

The third stage of the 18th annual Giro Rosa kicked off in the stunning San Fior where the riders took on the 100km course to the finish in San Vendemiano. With a cat 2 climb at the 60km mark and a sprint segment at the 48km mark, the riders had their work cut out for them in this figure-of-8 route.

To recap on yesterday’s Stage Two… We saw the Orica-Scott rider, Annemiek van Vleuten take the stage win after a 3-women pack battled it out in the sprint for the line. With more exciting stages to come, here’s a reminder of the stages of the Giro Rosa 2017:

Stage 1: Aquileia – Grado 11.5 km (TTT)
Stage 2: Zoppola – Montereale Valcellina 122.3 km
Stage 3: San Fior – San Vendemiano 100 km
Stage 4: Occhiobello – Occhiobello 118 km
Stage 5: Sant’Elpidio a Mare – Sant’Elpidio a Mare 12.7 km (ITT)
Stage 6: Roseto degli Abruzzi – Roseto degli Abruzzi 116.2 km
Stage 7: Isernia – Baronissi 142 km
Stage 8: Baronissi – Palinuro 141.8 km
Stage 9: Palinuro – Polla 122.3 km
Stage 10: Torre del Greco – Torre del Greco 124 km

There are five rider jerseys up for grabs each day and after Stage Two here’s who’s wearing what as riders went into Stage 3…

PINK Jersey COLNAGO: Anna Van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans)
CYCLAMINE Jersey SELLE SMP: Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott)
GREEN Jersey PURPLE by GLOBAL STOCK: Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott)
WHITE Jersey COLNAGO: Floortje Mackaij (Team Sunweb)
BLUE Jersey GSG: Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5)

Stage 3: San Fior to San Vendemiano – 100 km

At the start line it was announced that a number of riders have already withdrawn from the stage, and the event altogether in the case of Ashleigh Moolman (Cervélo Bigla) who later tweeted:

False start @GiroRosaCycling for me this year. My head was ready to race, but my body unfortunately not. Sad to abandon due to illness ????

— Ashleigh Moolman (@ashleighcycling) July 2, 2017

Early on into today’s race and Camilla Pedersen (VeloConcept) made a number of attack attempts, but the peloton wasn’t letting her go. Mechanical issues appeared to plague the peloton today with a number of riders including Lizzie Diegnan (Boels-Dolmans), Marta Tagliaferro (Cylance) and Ilona Hoeksma (Hitec Products) suffering. However, the quick efforts of their support cars had them back in the peloton in no time.

At 40km into the 100km race, the peloton was sticking together in a steady and relentless fashion averaging a speed of 42.7kph – which is pretty nippy!

The first sprint of the race came at 48.5km where we saw Nikki Brammeier (Boels-Dolmans) take the win followed by Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans) and then Lotta Lepistö (Cervélo Bigla).

The peloton headed on into the first categorised climb of the race at 60km. The Muro Ca’ del Poggio climb is including in the men’s race and has become renowned for being incredibly steep. A handful of riders broke free of the peloton on the descent but were quickly absorbed back into the fold.

As the race descended into the final few kilometres, it was evident that a bunch sprint finish was on the cards.

In a mad dash for the line, it was Canyon//SRAM rider Hannah Barnes who crossed the line first to take the Stage 3 win.

Results:

1.Hannah Barnes (Canyon//SRAM)
2.Lotta Lepistö (Cervélo Bigla)
3.Kirsten Wild (Cylance Pro Cycling)
4.Roxane Knetemann (FDJ)
5.Amalie Dideriksen (Boels-Dolmans)

Jersey results:

PINK Jersey COLNAGO: Anna Van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans)
CYCLAMINE Jersey SELLE SMP: Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott)
GREEN Jersey PURPLE by GLOBAL STOCK: Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott)
WHITE Jersey COLNAGO: Floortje Mackaij (Team Sunweb)
BLUE Jersey GSG: Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5)

The peloton will have their well-earned rest this evening before going into stage four tomorrow which will tell the riders on an 118km loop starting and finishing in Occhiobello.