As the men’s Giro d’Italia is about to end, the 9-day women’s edition is now in full swing. And what a first day it was. The pros have a few flat days before things start heading up, and on Saturday Lorena Wiebes stamped her authority, winning a reduced bunch sprint in Ravenna after a crash-filled and nervous stage through Emilia-Romagna.
The SD Worx-Protime sprinter extraordinaire proved untouchable in the finale, launching early and holding off Italy’s Elisa Balsamo and Ireland’s Lara Gillespie to snag the first maglia rosa of the Italian Grand Tour.
Stage 1 covered 139 km from Cesenatico to Ravenna and featured a series of twisting local circuits that kept the peloton on edge throughout the afternoon. An all-Italian breakaway featuring Sharon Spimi, Sofia Arici and Valeria Curnis spent much of the day off the front before being reeled in with around 50 km remaining.
The race was also marked by several crashes. One of the biggest casualties was Movistar’s Cat Ferguson, who abandoned after hitting the ground early in the stage. With the breakaway caught, the expected sprint materialized, and Wiebes delivered exactly as expected.
Canada has a large contingent in Italy. Alison Jackson (St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93) who has a Grand Tour stage win to her name from the 2024 Vuelta, just missed the top-10, finishing in 12th. EF Education-Oatly’s Alex Volstad was also in the mix, in 15th. Volstad sits third overall in the young riders competition, so she’s well within reach of the white jersey.
The rest of the Canucks were very content to finish safely in the bunch. There are a lot of big days coming up.
Stage 2 is another flat stage, with a quick little ramp mid-way, from Roncade to Caorle.
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