Giro women, Vos Cannibale. Balm third: stay pink

She had made 30, today she is 31. Marianne Vos beats the competition with a powerful sprint at the finish line in Olbia and wins the third stage of the Giro Donne 2022. After yesterday’s second place, the Dutchman of Team Jumbo-Visma gets his victory number 31 in his career in the Italian stage race, beating compatriot Kool by half the wheel. Third place of the day for Elisa Balsamo, who this time does not have the energy to overtake her rival in the last 50 meters. The Italian and world champion still keeps the pink jersey, which she will keep on tomorrow’s rest day, with a transfer to Romagna.

Immortal

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Another Cannibal success for Marianne Vos, at number 239 in her career. In addition to the record of stage victories in the Giro Donne, the Dutchman writes another page of an extraordinary career: it is the sixteenth season in which she concludes with at least one success. Since 2006, his first year as a professional, only 2015 is missing, the year of the break to recover from a long injury. Since then Marianne has risen up, has retouched the numbers from an absolute phenomenon and continued to take away satisfactions, without increasing the number of Giro Donne in her palmarès: three, conquered in 2011, 2012 and 2014. Today she is a different Cannibal, more from sprint: “It was a good day, there was a breakaway but we knew it would be a good opportunity for the group sprint with a very technical and winding finish – he says on arrival – The team did a great job and left me in a perfect position, but it’s always hard to stay up front with so many corners in the finish. However, I did it and I was able to launch my sprint, like yesterday. Tomorrow we return to the Peninsula, I am happy to enjoy a day of rest. In the meantime, I’ll try to relax, then I’ll see what other opportunities there will be for me and my team in this Giro Donne ”.

The stage

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In the 113.4 km from Cala Gonone to Olbia the courage of eleven athletes is not enough to escape from a written plot and without the possibility of changing the script. Three of them, who later became five, try to resist and have a margin of 1’30 ”20 km from the finish, before being inexorably picked up. Like yesterday, Vos arrives at the last 200 meters well protected by her companions, then she part of her baptizing the right side of the road. Balsamo takes the wheel, but this time she can’t get out in the final and she has to settle for third place, also overtaken by Kool. Never mind: her pink shirt remains hers, even on the day of rest. In the meantime, however, Vos is approaching a 6 ”margin thanks to the allowances.

The program

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Tomorrow day of rest to allow the athletes to catch their breath after the first efforts and the whole group to move to Romagna. On Monday it will resume with a fraction that starts and ends in Cesena. There will be 120.9 km moved, with three GPMs to tackle: Bertinoro (4 km at 4.9%) at the beginning, Berbotto in the central part (4.3 km at 8.2%) and Monteleone (1 , 9 km at 6.9%) in the final. After the brow, 20.9 km from the finish, a few more ups and downs for a finish that is not easy to predict.

Unassigns it

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1. Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma, NED) in 2h48’22” 2. Charlotte Kool (Team DSM, NED) st 3. Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo, ITA) st 4. Rachele Barbieri (Liv Racing Xstra, ITA) ) st 5. Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ, ITA) st 6. Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx, BEL) st 7. Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team, DEN) st 8. Silvia Zanardi (Bepink, ITA) st 9. Georgia Baker (Team BikeExchange-Jayco, AUS) st 10. Chiara Consonni (Valcar-Travel&Service, ITA) st

The general classification

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1. Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo, ITA) in 5h33’12” 2. Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma, Ola) +6” 3. Georgia Baker (Team BikeExchange-Jayco, Aus) +12” 4. Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco, Usa) +14“ 5. Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Work, Bel) +14” 6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) +17” 7. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar, Ola) +18 ” 8. Charlotte Kool (Team DSM, Ola) +19” 9. Emma Norsgaard (Movistar, Dan) +20” 10. Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitanie Futuroscope) +27”