Van der Breggen wins second Giro Rosa title

Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen capped off the 28th edition of the Giro Rosa with her second overall win in three years. The 27-year-old had been in the pink jersey since finishing second on stage 2 after lifting it from her Canadian teammate Karol-ann Canuel, who was the first to don the maglia rosa after Boels won the opening stage team time trial.

The win is a welcome addition to van der Breggen’s palmarés, which already includes the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and European title. In fact, with her latest victory she moves to the top of the Women’s WorldTour rankings.

The 10th and final stage — a 124-kilometer day circuit in Torre del Greco, Italy — was won by Boels teammate and last year’s race winner Megan Guarnier, followed by Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) is second and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Energie) in third.

Elisa Longo Borghini and Annemiek Van Vleuten — winner of both the points and mountain jerseys — tried an attack on the climb of Vesuvio to no avail having been caught by the chasing group on the following descent to Torre del Greco.

Both Longo Borghini and van Vleuten rounded out the final podium in second and third respectively.

“It was a very, very nice Giro and I’m really glad that I could ride to second in GC,” said Longo Borghini of her best Giro finish to date. “It was a lot of work from the team for ten days.”

The Italian champion praised her team’s efforts in the fourth-place finish (+0:24) on stage 1 to keep her in the hunt for the overall win.

“There was a very good effort in the team time trial,” Longo Borghini said, “Because there I could be in a good position for the entire week.”

Full race report and results to follow …

Stage 10 results, top 10

• 1. Megan GUARNIER, BOELS-DOLMANS, in 3:09:37
• 2. Amanda SPRATT, ORICA-SCOTT, at 0:00
• 3. Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA, WM3 ENERGIE, at 0:00
• 4. Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN, ORICA-SCOTT, at 0:00
• 5. Anna VAN DER BREGGEN, BOELS-DOLMANS, at 0:00
• 6. Elisa LONGO BORGHINI, WIGGLE-HIGH5, at 0:00
• 7. Lucinda BRAND, TEAM SUNWEB, at 0:46
• 8. Arlenis SIERRA, ASTANA WOMEN, at 1;04
• 9. Janneke ENSING, ALÉ CIPOLLINI, at 1:04
• 10. Romy KASPER, ALÉ CIPOLLINI, at 1:04

General classification, top 10

• 1. Anna VAN DER BREGGEN, BOELS-DOLMANS, in 25:39:43
• 2. Elisa LONGO BORGHINI, WIGGLE-HIGH5, 1:03
• 3. Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN, ORICA-SCOTT, at 1:39
• 4. Megan GUARNIER, BOELS-DOLMANS at 2:57
• 5. Amanda SPRATT, ORICA-SCOTT, 3:26
• 6. Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA, WM3 ENERGIE, at 3:58
• 7. Lucinda BRAND, TEAM SUNWEB, at 4:12
• 8. Karol-ann CANUEL, BOELS-DOLMANS, at 5:26
• 9. Claudia LICHTENBERG, WIGGLE-HIGH5, at 6:09
• 10. Arlenis SIERRA, ASTANA WOMEN, at 6:19