UAE Team ADQ’s Italian campaign ends with another victory, as Silvia Persico claims her first win of the season at the Giro dell’Appennino Donne.
Coming off yesterday’s Milano-Sanremo Women, the Italian rider delivered a perfect race performance: a decisive attack on the final climb of Livellato followed by a powerful sprint victory from a reduced group after 111 kilometres from Novi Ligure to Genoa.
Boosted by the strong third-place finish of Eleonora Gasparrini the day before, the team started with high morale. Alongside Persico and Gasparrini, already key protagonists in Sanremo with Alena Amialiusik, the line-up also featured Italian riders Erica Magnaldi, Greta Marturano and young talent Giada Silo.
The team controlled the early phase of the race as a three-rider breakaway went clear. On the Passo dei Giovi climb, thanks in part to UAE Team ADQ’s strong pace-setting, the gap was significantly reduced.
The decisive move came on the second and final ascent of Livellato, where the peloton split. Silvia Persico attacked alongside French rider Célia Gery (FDJ-Suez). They were later joined on the descent by Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), and in the final 13 kilometres, Sarah Van Dam, Viktória Chladoňová (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) bridged across to the leaders.
The front group of six, driven especially by Chladoňová, gained valuable seconds and went on to contest the win in a sprint finish. Silvia Persico proved strongest, taking victory ahead of Lucinda Brand and Sarah Van Dam. Persico also takes the lead and multiple jerseys in the Coppa Italia delle Regioni standings.
Eleonora Gasparrini won the main group sprint finish, finishing in eighth place.
After the race, Silvia Persico said: “I’ve been waiting for this victory for a couple of weeks. After the work done at altitude, I knew the results would come. I want to thank my teammates, who really believed in me today and gave me full confidence, as well as my coach Luca Zenti and the whole team.”
On the race strategy, she added: “My teammates did an excellent job. The plan was to attack on the climb and I managed to go clear with Gery. When the others came back, I tried to manage the situation by making Visma and Trek work, as they had numerical advantage. I stayed covered, following Gery who I knew was strong, and then used my knowledge of the finish to deliver the best possible sprint. Now focus shifts to the Classics.”
(ph. Marco Graziani)
