What looked set to be a transitional stage turned into another day of bold racing for UAE Team ADQ, whose aggressive tactics earned valuable seconds for Elisa Longo Borghini and, perhaps more importantly, provided further confirmation that the Italian champion’s form is continuing to improve at exactly the right time.
Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia Women covered 159 kilometres from Sorbolo Mezzani to Salice Terme. As expected, an early breakaway formed shortly after the start, while a series of crashes animated the day. One of those incidents also involved race leader Anna van der Breggen, who was forced into a long chase before eventually rejoining the peloton.
The gap to the breakaway steadily came down as the race approached the final climb, located around 25 kilometres from the finish. After the summit, a select group emerged on the descent, with Célia Gery (FDJ-SUEZ) and UAE Team ADQ’s Silvia Persico launching a decisive move.
The pair soon bridged across to Chantal Pegolo (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria), Gaia Segato (Vini Fantini-BePink) and Alison Jackson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), who had been part of the day’s original breakaway. Shortly afterwards, Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) and Elisa Longo Borghini also joined the front group.
Persico then delivered a selfless and impressive effort in support of her teammate, driving the pace to help Longo Borghini gain as much time as possible on her general classification rivals. At one stage, the advantage grew to more than 40 seconds before Persico’s work came to an end due to cramp.
The peloton gradually reduced the gap, but the front group held on long enough to secure a small yet significant reward. Longo Borghini gained five seconds in the general classification over her main rivals, while Lara Gillespie won the bunch sprint for seventh place, crossing the line just eight seconds behind the stage winner.
The result provides a welcome boost of confidence for Longo Borghini ahead of the Giro’s decisive stages. Saturday’s queen stage features the legendary Colle delle Finestre and a summit finish in Sestriere, before the race concludes on Sunday in Saluzzo.
Célia Gery claimed the stage victory, while Anna van der Breggen remains in the Maglia Rosa. Demi Vollering sits second overall at one minute, with Elisa Longo Borghini moving into sixth place at 2:07 ahead of the final two stages.
(ph. Getty Sport)
