Giro d’Italia Donne Stage 6: Annemiek van Vleuten wins in pink

Urška Žigart and Antonia Niedermaier abandon after crashes

Matt Hansen July 5, 2023

Annemiek van Vleuten took a decisive victory in the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday, winning the race in the pink jersey. Stage 6 was a 102.7-km trek in Canelli, with two major climbs, the Castino and the Calosso. Van Vleuten finished 20 seconds ahead of Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx) and Liane Lippert (Movistar Team). Following the departure of Maggie Coles-Lyster (Israel Premier Tech Roland) the sole Canadian left is Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), who finished in 59th. Vallieres’s teammate Veronica Ewers moved into second overall, 3:03 behind the world champion.

Antonia Niedermaier, Stage 5 winner, and Urška Žigart withdrew from the race after crashing earlier.

MEDICAL UPDATE ? @urskazigart crashed on stage 6 of the #GiroDonne and abandoned the race.

Our team doctor confirmed that Urška suffered a light concussion and skin abrasions. The team will now monitor her closely.

Get well soon, Urška! ? pic.twitter.com/ts3bE8zKLN

— Team Jayco AlUla (@GreenEDGEteam) July 5, 2023

“It was definitely the plan to go on the offensive today,” van Vleuten said after her ride. “I already have a nice lead in the standings and it’s mainly a battle for the podium places behind me, but I also know that I have to stay focused. I did feel that the whole peloton was tired from yesterday and had ridden a really bizarre high wattage all day yesterday. As a result, I could feel some fatigue in the legs. Johan Cruyff said ‘the attack is the best defence’ and I think that’s a very nice statement.”

???? Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team)

"My recovery went really well ??"#UCIWWT #GiroDonne23 pic.twitter.com/61snQoCmIY

— UCI_WWT (@UCI_WWT) July 5, 2023