Giro Rosa defending champion Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) won a six-up sprint to climb to the top step of the podium on the final stage of the Italian grand tour. Olympic road champion Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) was amongst the elite selection of six to contest the finish in Torre del Greco, where she was crowned Giro Rosa champion. It’s Van der Breggen’s second Giro Rosa title and a second straight overall win for Boels-Dolmans.
The final stage of the Giro Rosa was a circuit race in Torre del Greco. The peloton covered nine laps of 11.1 kilometres before deviating from the original course on lap ten to take in Mount Vesuvio.
The main break of the day escaped on the fourth lap. Chloe Hosking (Wiggle-High5), Alexis Ryan (Canyon-SRAM), Lotta Lepistö (Cervelo-Bigla), Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb), Anna Plichta (WM3 Energie), Silvia Valsecchi (BePink Cogeas), Malgorzata Jasinska (Cylance) and Eugénie Duval (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) collaborated to put 1:30 into the peloton, but Boels-Dolmans was intent on contesting the stage win and slowly but steadily ate into their gap. The catch was made on the lower slopes of Vesuvio with 19 kilometres remaining.
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Mount Vesuvio set the scene for a natural selection. As the road rose, the bunch thinned until only six remained in front: Van der Breggen, Guarnier, Annemiek van Vleuten and Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott), Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) and Kasia Niewiadoma (WM3 Energie). Notably absent was stage eight winner Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb), who had started the final day of racing in fifth overall.
Van Vleuten led the group over the top of the climb and plunged down towards the finish line. The race leader attacked on the descent, drawing out Van Vleuten and Longo Borghini, but the group would come together before the finish line. First to open her sprint, Guarnier held off Spratt and Niewiadoma to take the stage win.
As Guarnier took the win, Van der Breggen could be seen pumping her fist in the air before she crossed the line. The 27-year-old won the Giro Rosa more than a minute ahead of both Longo Borghini, in second, and Van Vleuten in third.
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