Stage 5 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia Donne delivered a shake-up in the general classification, putting the maglia rosa more securely on the shoulders of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) as she gained time on most of the other GC contenders.
Widely viewed pre-race as the queen stage, the 2023 Giro’s most difficult day included the Cima Coppi ascent of the Passo del Lupo early on and two more classified climbs in the final.
The only rider to beat Van Vleuten, by nine seconds, was German Antonia Niedermaier. In her first Giro Donne, the 20-year-old Canyon-SRAM racer took her courage in both hands and launched a solo attack on the penultimate climb that won her the stage.
Including time bonifications, Niedermaier gained one-and-a-half minutes or more on the rest of the peloton and leapfrogged from 14th place overall to second place, 2:07 minutes behind the maglia rosa. She also takes the lead in the U-23 classification and will wear the white jersey on stage 7.
Further behind, Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) rallied from being dropped on the Passo del Lupo, returning to the chase group and finishing the stage in fifth place to defend her third place overall.
However, she lost time to Van Vleuten and is now 2:18 minutes behind, but still has a good shot at the GC podium.
Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich) moved up one spot in GC, from fifth to fourth, though her deficit on Van Vleuten almost doubled to three minutes. Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) is fifth, 14 seconds behind the French climber, and will now be her team’s protected rider as Elisa Longo Borghini, second overall going into the stage, crashed in the final.
The Italian champion crossed the finish line 7:33 down and dropped to 17th place, and it is not yet certain whether she can continue the race.
Mavi García (Liv Racing TeqFind) and Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ) both sit at 3:39 in sixth and seventh place, followed by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ). The exuberant Dane dropped four places and is 4:29 behind but remains her team’s best hope of a good GC result as Marta Cavalli paid for her efforts early on the stage, losing four-and-a-half minutes and tumbling to 13th place.
Ane Santesteban (Team Jayco AlUla) also lost two positions and is now ninth at 4:57. Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx), on the other hand, jumped from 19th to 10th overall, just six seconds behind the Basque climber. Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Fem van Empel (Team Jumbo-Visma) are another eight seconds down.
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