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Anna van der Breggen blew away her rivals and blew up the race for pink at the Giro d’Italia Women on Tuesday’s 4th stage.
The Dutch veteran on SD Worx-Protime blasted to her first time trial victory in five years on a severe mountaintop test that marked the first GC shakeup of the race.
It was an obliteration that leaves “AVDB” well-placed for multi-mountain stages on Wednesday and Saturday.
The 36-year-old now has a commanding GC lead over top rivals Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (FDJ Suez) after they finished 1:04 and 1:10 back on stage 4 on Tuesday.
Italian star Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE ADQ) lost 1:51 to Van der Breggen in a huge early dent to her title defense.
“I really didn’t expect it. It’s incredible,” Van der Breggen said in her winner’s interview. “I’m really happy with this.
“I hope I can be an example that you always have to keep fighting and keep working hard, and that eventually it will come. I have worked so hard over the past two years [since my comeback] to get here,” she said. “To win like this means a lot to me.”
As expected, overnight race-leader and three-peat sprinter Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) slid out of the top of classification on Tuesday. Her next chance comes in a pan-flat stage on Thursday.
What bike works best?
GC contenders bookmarked Tuesday’s 4th stage as the first definitive stop in the race for the pink jersey.
With around 750m of gain in just 12.7km, the Bulluno TT would set the tone for a lot more climbing to come.
Riders were split between climbing on their time trial bike or opting for a road machine on the two-part course. Reusser and Longo Borghini gambled on using their lightweight road bikes while Van der Breggen and Vollering gutted it out on their TT rigs.
It turns out aero really is everything – even on a 750m climb.
Racing in the blue skinsuit of “best climber,” Van der Breggen held rock solid in the TT extensions through the steep haul to Nevegal and reaped a pink jersey reward.
Vollering, Longo Borghini, and Reusser won’t have it easy clawing back their GC gaps to Van der Breggen in the climbing tests to come.
The dominator of the pre-pandemic era proved only last month at the Vuelta Feminina she’s on her best form since she hung up her wheels at the end of 2021 – the same year she won her fourth pink jersey.
Giro d’Italia Women stage 4 results:
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