Amanda Spratt first to steal Maglia Rosa from Team Sunweb

Australian secures GC lead in mountain top finish, ending five days of Sunweb dominance at Giro Rosa

Terry McKall July 11, 2018

After five days of Team Sunweb dominance at the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, Amanda Spratt dons the Maglia Rosa for Mitchelton-Scott after escaping on the sixth stage’s summit finish at Gerola Alta.

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Another amazing day in pink at the #GiroRosa! We pass the jersey on but we continue to fight! ?? #KeepChallenging

A post shared by Team Sunweb (@teamsunweb) on Jul 11, 2018 at 8:48am PDT

Wednesday’s 115km stage ended with a 15 km climb to the line, ascending at an average of 5.5%. It was the climbers turn to shine after five days of flat or rolling stages, and Mitchelton-Scott was ready to make the most of it. Amanda Spratt separated herself from a dwindling lead group to cross the finish line alone. Her speed up the climb was enough to put her at the top of the GC standings at the end of the day.

Behind, her Mitchelton-Scott teammate Annemiek van Vleuten marked Cervelo-Biglia’s Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio’s attempt to close down Spratt’s lead, before passing her at the line to take second on the stage. Moolman-Pasio would end up third and Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans) fourth at the front of a handful of riders.

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First mountain finish of the Giro this year. Stage win and the Maglia Rosa. Today was a good day ?. This really was such a TEAM effort. Special thanks to @gracieelvin @sar_roy @joliendhoore @jessallen1993 who have been doing bulk work the last days making sure Vleuty and I have been able to save as much energy as possible. Then on the climb @annemiekvanvleuten made a strong attack that set me up for my winning move. Thanks ladies! Happy I can repay them for the hard work the last days. Tomorrow is a 15kms uphill TT- I’m ready to keep fighting with my team ? ? @gettyimages • • • • #giro #girorosa #girorosa18 #girorosa2018 #italy #uciwwt #womenscycling #stage6 #gerolaalta #winner #teamwork #magliarosa #specialfeeling #thanksteam

A post shared by Amanda Spratt (@amandaspratt87) on Jul 11, 2018 at 10:08am PDT

After wearing the Maglia Rosa for two consecutive days, Leah Kirchman handed the pink jersey over to her Team Sunweb teammate Ruth Winder going into Wednesday’s stage. Winder remains second on the GC leader board, 30 seconds behind Spratt. Kirchman slid down to ninth by the end of the day.

Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels-Dolmans) is the only other Canadian Woman in the race. Canuel currently sits 34th overall after finishing Wednesday’s stage in 38th. The Canadian is riding in support of her Boels-Dolmans teammate Megan Guarnier as she attempts to defend the team’s Giro Rosa title.

Boels-Dolmans won the 10-day stage race last year with Anna van der Breggen. The Dutch Olympic road race champion opted to race the Val di Sole cross country mountain bike World Cup in Italy instead of defending her Giro Rosa title. Van der Breggen finished 30th in her first ever World Cup XCO appearance.

Giro Rosa: Stage 6 Results (Top 40)

1	142	SPRATT Amanda	AUS	MITCHELTON SCOTT	31	2:57’49	25
2	141	VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek	NED	MITCHELTON SCOTT	36	2:58’18	20
3	82	MOOLMAN-PASIO Ashleigh	RSA	CERVELO – BIGLA PRO CYCLING TEAM	33	2:58’20	18
4	4	GUARNIER Megan	USA	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	33	2:58’21	16
5	15	SANTESTEBAN GONZALEZ Ane	ESP	ALE CIPOLLINI	28	2:58’21	14
6	132	GARCIA CAÑELLAS Margarita Victo	ESP	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	34	2:58’21	12
7	71	NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna	POL	CANYON // SRAM RACING	24	2:58’23	10
8	222	STULTIENS Sabrina	NED	WAOWDEALS PRO CYCLING TEAM	25	2:58’24	8
9	171	BRAND Lucinda	NED	TEAM SUNWEB	29	2:58’24	6
10	83	LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup	DEN	CERVELO – BIGLA PRO CYCLING TEAM	23	2:58’24	4
11	135	MERINO CORTAZAR Eider	ESP	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	24	2:58’24
12	121	GILLOW Shara	AUS	FDJ NOUVELLE – AQUITAINE FUTUROSCOPE	31	2:59’26
13	211	PALADIN Asja	ITA	VALCAR PBM	24	2:59’26
14	43	MAGNALDI Erica	ITA	BEPINK	26	2:59’26
15	202	HAMMES Kathrin	GER	TREK – DROPS	29	2:59’26
16	152	VYSOTSKA Yevgeniya	UKR	S.C. MICHELA FANINI	43	2:59’30
17	177	WINDER Ruth	USA	TEAM SUNWEB	25	2:59’38
18	196	QUAGLIOTTO Nadia	ITA	TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO	21	2:59’38
19	173	KIRCHMANN Leah	CAN	TEAM SUNWEB	28	2:59’58
20	16	PALADIN Soraya	ITA	ALE CIPOLLINI	25	3:00’35
21	62	BUJAK Eugenia	SLO	BTC CITY LJUBLJANA	29	3:00’36
22	233	FAHLIN Emilia	SWE	WIGGLE HIGH5	30	3:00’36
23	231	LONGO BORGHINI Elisa	ITA	WIGGLE HIGH5	27	3:00’40
24	161	POTOKINA Anna	RUS	SERVETTO – STRADALLI CYCLE – ALURECYCLING	31	3:00’47
25	133	JASINSKA Malgorzata	POL	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	34	3:00’51
26	52	CHRISTMAS Danielle	GBR	BIZKAIA DURANGO – EUSKADI MURIAS	31	3:00’51
27	226	KOSTER Anouska	NED	WAOWDEALS PRO CYCLING TEAM	25	3:00’51
28	134	LLAMAS GARCIA Lorena	ESP	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	31	3:00’58
29	31	BERTIZZOLO Sofia	ITA	ASTANA WOMEN’S TEAM	21	3:01’02
30	234	RITTER Martina	AUT	WIGGLE HIGH5	36	3:01’11
31	201	WILES Tayler	USA	TREK – DROPS	29	3:01’19
32	206	CHRISTIAN Anna	GBR	TREK – DROPS	23	3:01’22
33	66	PINTAR Urska	SLO	BTC CITY LJUBLJANA	33	3:01’53
34	61	BATAGELJ Polona	SLO	BTC CITY LJUBLJANA	29	3:01’53
35	25	LAIZANE Lija	LAT	AROMITALIA VAIANO	25	3:02’15
36	184	AALERUD Katrine	NOR	TEAM VIRTU CYCLING	24	3:02’33
37	5	PIETERS Amy	NED	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	27	3:02’44
38	3	CANUEL Karol-Ann	CAN	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	30	3:02’44
39	215	MUCCIOLI Dalia	ITA	VALCAR PBM	25	3:03’14
40	1	MAJERUS Christine	LUX	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	31	3:03’14

Giro Rosa GC Standings after Stage 6

1	142	SPRATT Amanda	AUS	MITCHELTON SCOTT	31	15:38’44	5
2	177	WINDER Ruth	USA	TEAM SUNWEB	25	15:39’14
3	141	VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek	NED	MITCHELTON SCOTT	36	15:39’17
4	171	BRAND Lucinda	NED	TEAM SUNWEB	29	15:39’24
5	82	MOOLMAN-PASIO Ashleigh	RSA	CERVELO – BIGLA PRO CYCLING TEAM	33	15:39’42
6	83	LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup	DEN	CERVELO – BIGLA PRO CYCLING TEAM	23	15:39’50
7	71	NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna	POL	CANYON // SRAM RACING	24	15:40’00
8	4	GUARNIER Megan	USA	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	33	15:40’33
9	173	KIRCHMANN Leah	CAN	TEAM SUNWEB	28	15:40’52
10	222	STULTIENS Sabrina	NED	WAOWDEALS PRO CYCLING TEAM	25	15:41’15
11	135	MERINO CORTAZAR Eider	ESP	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	24	15:41’53
12	15	SANTESTEBAN GONZALEZ Ane	ESP	ALE CIPOLLINI	28	15:41’55
13	231	LONGO BORGHINI Elisa	ITA	WIGGLE HIGH5	27	15:42’23
14	132	GARCIA CAÑELLAS Margarita Victo	ESP	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	34	15:42’26
15	202	HAMMES Kathrin	GER	TREK – DROPS	29	15:42’27
16	211	PALADIN Asja	ITA	VALCAR PBM	24	15:42’28
17	43	MAGNALDI Erica	ITA	BEPINK	26	15:43’03
18	152	VYSOTSKA Yevgeniya	UKR	S.C. MICHELA FANINI	43	15:43’15
19	201	WILES Tayler	USA	TREK – DROPS	29	15:43’18
20	121	GILLOW Shara	AUS	FDJ NOUVELLE – AQUITAINE FUTUROSCOPE	31	15:43’26
21	31	BERTIZZOLO Sofia	ITA	ASTANA WOMEN’S TEAM	21	15:43’44
22	16	PALADIN Soraya	ITA	ALE CIPOLLINI	25	15:43’59
23	62	BUJAK Eugenia	SLO	BTC CITY LJUBLJANA	29	15:44’27
24	134	LLAMAS GARCIA Lorena	ESP	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	31	15:44’27
25	196	QUAGLIOTTO Nadia	ITA	TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO	21	15:45’17
26	52	CHRISTMAS Danielle	GBR	BIZKAIA DURANGO – EUSKADI MURIAS	31	15:45’19
27	172	VAN DIJK Ellen	NED	TEAM SUNWEB	31	15:45’34
28	161	POTOKINA Anna	RUS	SERVETTO – STRADALLI CYCLE – ALURECYCLING	31	15:46’05
29	234	RITTER Martina	AUT	WIGGLE HIGH5	36	15:46’07
30	184	AALERUD Katrine	NOR	TEAM VIRTU CYCLING	24	15:46’23
31	5	PIETERS Amy	NED	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	27	15:46’30
32	214	CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia	ITA	VALCAR PBM	25	15:46’42
33	54	GONZALEZ BLANCO Lucia	ESP	BIZKAIA DURANGO – EUSKADI MURIAS	28	15:46’48
34	3	CANUEL Karol-Ann	CAN	BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM	30	15:46’49
35	133	JASINSKA Malgorzata	POL	MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN	34	15:47’00
36	104	RATTO Rossella	ITA	CYLANCE PRO CYCLING	25	15:47’11
37	174	LABOUS Juliette	FRA	TEAM SUNWEB	20	15:47’20
38	51	ARZUFFI Alice Maria	ITA	BIZKAIA DURANGO – EUSKADI MURIAS	24	15:47’28
39	66	PINTAR Urska	SLO	BTC CITY LJUBLJANA	33	15:47’36
40	206	CHRISTIAN Anna	GBR	TREK – DROPS	23	15:48’33