D'hoore wins Giro Rosa stage 4 sprint

Jolien D’hoore won her first Giro Rosa stage Monday with a fast finishing sprint in Occhiobello, Italy. The Wiggle-High5 rider beat Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini) in stage 4. American Coryn Rivera (Sunweb) was third.

“Yeah, it was pretty close, but a win is a win,” D’hoore said.

“Somewhere around halfway WM3 put the hammer down, together with Boels-Dolmans, and suddenly we heard that Annemiek van Vleuten was in the second group,” she explained. “So we started to work for Elisa, for GC, and then we came really fast to the final 5km for the sprint.

“In the end we had two roundabouts in the last 800 metres, so it was pretty dangerous and hectic. But I managed to be up there, thanks to Giorgia [Bronzini], she led me out into the sprint, and yeah, it was a close call.”

Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans) kept her overall lead at the end of the 118km stage.

The stage also saw Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Elisa Longo Borghini move up to second place overall, after the team’s efforts in the crosswinds caused stage two winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) to lose almost two minutes.

With about 40 kilometers to go, crosswinds split the peloton. Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) was caught out and lost about two minutes.

However, the sprinters weren’t bothered by the difficult conditions. “We were all together for most of the stage, especially when the bunch split as well as inside the final five kilometers,” said Rivera. “Lucinda [Brand] was able to take me around the final two roundabouts and I could take the opportunity to go for the podium.”

D’hoore, the Belgian national champion, won the sprint with a bike throw ahead of the Aussie Hosking, who won last year’s La Course race.

In fact the finish was so tight that Hosking threw her own arms in the air after the line believing that she had won, which caused many to initially award it to the Australian.

“I knew that I had it, even if it was by a few millimetres, but then Chloe threw her arms in the air so I was confused,” claimed D’hoore. “But then we had to wait until the photofinish.”

The sprinters will take a back seat Tuesday as the Giro Rosa offers up a 12.7km individual time trial in Sant’elpidio a Mare.

Stage 4 results, top 10

• 1. Jolien D’HOORE, WIGGLE-HIGH5, in 2:42:04
• 2. Chloe HOSKING, ALÉ CIPOLLINI, at 0:00
• 3. Coryn RIVERA, TEAM SUNWEB, at 0:00
• 4. Hannah BARNES, CANYON-SRAM, at 0:00
• 5. Giorgia BRONZINI, WIGGLE-HIGH5, at 0:00
• 6. Arlenis SIERRA, ASTANA WOMEN, at 0:00
• 7. Annalisa CUCINOTTA, LENSWORLD-KUOTA, at 0:00
• 8. Claudia CRETTI, VALCAR PBM, at 0:00
• 9. Amalie DIDERIKSEN, BOELS-DOLMANS, at 0:00
• 10. Ilaria SANGUINETI, BEPINK COGEAS, at 0:00

General classification, top 10

• 1. Anna VAN DER BREGGEN, BOELS-DOLMANS, in 8:36:25
• 2. Elisa LONGO BORGHINI, WIGGLE-HIGH5, at 0:26
• 3. Megan GUARNIER, BOELS-DOLMANS, at 1:56
• 4. Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN, ORICA-SCOTT, at 2:17
• 5. Amanda SPRATT, ORICA-SCOTT, at 2:22
• 6. Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA, WM3 ENERGIE, at 2:37
• 7. Karol-ann CANUEL, BOELS-DOLMANS, at 2:43
• 8. Lucinda BRAND, TEAM SUNWEB, at 2:59
• 9. Floortje MACKAIJ,TEAM SUNWEB, at 3:02
• 10. Sabrina STULTIENS, TEAM SUNWEB, at 3:02