Watch the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift right here on SBS from July 24-31.
After just over five and a half hours of racing, Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) are separated by six small seconds on the General Classification.
World road champion, Balsamo, has been on the podium every day so far. She finished third in the 4.7km Stage 1 prologue and narrowly beat Vos to a first-place finish in Stage 2, 106.5km from Villasimius to Tortoli.
Vos then nabbed the victory on Stage 3, 113.4km from Cala Gonone to Olbia, ahead of Dutch compatriot Charlotte Kool (DSM) and Italy’s Balsamo.
“Obviously, it’s a redemption. We knew there could be good chances of victory,” Vos said after the previous day’s second place.
“The team delivered me to the perfect place but then still it was difficult to stay in the right position with the final corners.
“Then I stayed in the wheel of Romy Kasper and she put me in a really good spot and then of course after yesterday I wanted to try again and I’m very happy it worked out today.”
Vos, who won the Giro Donne (previously called the Giro Rosa) in 2011, 2012 and 2014, set an event record by winning her 31st stage.
“Today, I’m really glad," she added. "Now we travel to the mainland, it’s the first time there’s a rest day during Giro Donne.
"I will enjoy the victory, let’s see what opportunities the next days have in store for us”.
Australian Georgia Baker (BikeExchange-Jayco) sits third on the Giro Donne GC, 12 seconds behind Balsamo. She is followed closely by teammate Kristen Faulkner at 14 seconds.
An exciting stage race in its own right, the 33rd Giro Donne doubles as a strong show of form for who to watch, and watch out for, when the Tour de France Femmes gets underway on July 24.
While some riders are skipping the Giro Donne to rest up ahead of the Tour de France Femmes, Vos and Balsamo have both committed to ‘doing the double’ and are racing both events.
Elisa Longo-Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), who is targeting stage wins in the Giro Donne while riding into form for the Tour de France Femmes, currently sits in sixth on the GC, 17 seconds behind the leader. One second behind her is the versatile and seemingly inexhaustible Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), another rider to keep an eye on for her podium potential in both tours.
The next best-placed Australians are: Sarah Roy (Canyon//SRAM) in 14th, Amanda Spratt (Bike-Exchange Jayco) in 19th, and Brodie Chapman (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) in 36th, 41 seconds behind the Maglia Rosa.
Stage 4 will take riders into the first hilly day of the 10-stage tour and will be sure to shake things up before the climbing starts in earnest in the latter half of the event.
