The beat goes on for the pros at the Giro d’Italia Women. Stage 3 is a 122-km route from Bibione to Buja. On paper, Stage 3 offers another opportunity for the sprinters to battle for victory. Then again, this is cycling and if we’ve learned anything from the recent Giro d’Italia Dudes™, things can be unpredictable.
Still, given that the profile is relatively gentle, featuring less than 1,000 metres of climbing across the day, you’d think that should keep most of the peloton together and make it difficult for breaks to build a decisive advantage. Especially since the women have fresh legs.
Balsamo in pink again
Elisa Balsamo enters the stage full of confidence after taking victory on Stage 2 and moving into the pink jersey. Racing on home roads, the Italian will be eager to add another win to her growing tally and further strengthen her grip on the race lead. She’s won two stages…although the first one was a bit controversial. Not on the part of the Lidl-Trek rider, but the organizers, who DQed stage winner and pink jersey Lorena Wiebes for a couple of hours.
Her bike was just a smidge over the weight threshold and instead of a relegation (or even a warning, seeing as the race was dead flat) she was kicked out of the race. Her SD Worx team is livid, as one can imagine, and is threatening legal action.
Stage 3
As far as Monday, there is one obstacle that could complicate matters. A 2.5-km climb averaging 7.2 per cent crests just over 20 km from the finish. While it is unlikely to be selective enough to decide the stage on its own, teams with strong climbers may try to increase the pace and put the pure sprinters under pressure.
On Sunday, Maple Ridge, B.C.’s Maggie Coles-Lyster of Human Powered Health showed once again she’s one of the top sprinters in the women’s WorldTour, finishing seventh. Earlier this year she took her first pro dub of the year, which was especially sweet after months of recovery following iliac artery surgery. EF Education-Oatly’s Alex Volstad was up there. Maybe today could also be a good one for national champion Alison Jackson of St Michel–Préférence Home–Auber93?
You can tune into the race on FloBikes.com at 9:30 a.m. EDT. If you’re at work, doncha worry, Canadian Cycling Magazine will have a full report after.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…