Giro Rosa Stage 10: Van Vleuten secures victory; Moolman-Pasio second, Spratt third

World time trial champion Annemiek van Vleuten won the tenth and final stage, along with overall victory, of the Giro Rosa on Sunday. She won the stage by 27-seconds over a group of eight chasers, which included second and third place overall finishers Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervelo-Bigla), and her teammate Amanda Spratt.

Van Vleuten said her tactic of constant aggression was the key to winning her first Giro Rosa overall title.

“Today’s stage win wasn’t premeditated, it just happened out there on the road, I felt that it was good to attack on the climb and carry some speed into the descent. It’s no secret that attack is the best form of defense and that was me defending the jersey. I felt good on the climb and it’s special to wrap up the GC by winning the last stage.”

Runner-up Moolman-Pasio said she was pleased with her podium position, but wants more out of future appearances at the Giro Rosa.

“It’s my first Giro Rosa podium. It would be wonderful to win this race one time in my career and this is the closest I’ve come so I’ll keep challenging. It’s quite an emotional experience to finish on the podium. Successfully standing here on the podium as an African is a big achievement for me, I am really proud of it.”

The 35-year-old van Vleuten scored her third victory today to secure the biggest win of her career.

Van Vleuten headed into the tenth and final stage with a hard-to-beat 3:35 lead over her nearest rival on the general classification, Moolman-Pasio.

A breakaway of 13 riders animated the early part of the day before being reeled in ahead of the final climb.

Moolman-Pasio was the first rider to attack on the final climb of the stage, but the Mitchelton-Scott team followed closely with van Vleuten stamping her authority on the race, counter-attacking the move by her teammate Spratt. The move was simply too strong for anybody to follow, and the Dutchman soloed away for the stage, and overall, win.

After one day’s break, the UCI Women’s World Tour will continue on Tuesday 17 July when they line up in La Course by le Tour de France.