Giro Rosa (st. 1)

Telefónica-backed squad repeats 8th place from 2018 at grueling, hot route towards Castellania; loses less than 2' against Canyon, in pink with first leader Niewiadoma.

Canyon // SRAM took the victory -and put Kasia Niewiadoma into the lead– at the demanding 18km TTT stage one of the 2019 Giro Rosa, a lumpy route in the Alessandria province of Piedmont between the towns (Cassano Spinola and Castellania) that gave birth to two of the biggest champions in Italian cycling: Constante Girardengo and Fausto Coppi.

Under scorching heat -temperatures rising above 35ºC- and on two long portions uphill which took the average speeds below 30kph, the Movistar Team tried to make the most of their group’s overall strength to complete a notable effort. It was 8th place -the same as in 2018- for the Telefónica-backed squad, 1’41” behind the winner, after strong early efforts from Sheyla Gutiérrez and Gloria Rodríguez to keep together Jasinska, Biannic, Patiño and Eider Merino, fully in GC contention.

The Italian event will tackle a short, intense route on Saturday, just 78km around Viù with the Colle del Lys (Cat-2) right from the start + a slightly uphill finish, which will again put the favourites’ condition to the test.

Cover picture (c): Velofocus