Britain's Anna Henderson powered to victory on stage two of the Giro d'Italia Women in Aprica on Monday, taking the pink jersey and race lead as a result.
The Lidl-Trek rider out-sprinted fellow breakaway rider, Dilyxine Miermont of Ceratizit Pro Cycling after the pair escaped with 40km to go on the stage, which finished on a category three climb.
An unpredictable race from the start, the peloton had cruised as a cohesive group until Henderson and Miermont's attack at 40km to the finish. Later splits saw other riders lose time.
Not only did the pair stay away, but Henderson's win and bonus seconds saw her take the race lead from Marlen Reusser (Movistar), who finished just under 30 seconds behind. World champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) separately lost time on the race favourites.
"Pink is my favourite colour!" Henderson shouted as she discovered she was in the race lead. The 26-year-old is also now the leader in the QOM and points competitions.
“As a team we made a plan to be aggressive this morning because we knew it would be a hard final and we knew we had a really good team for attacking," a breathless Henderson said after the race.
"We’re here for stages and this is what we came to do and I'm so thankful to my teammates for supporting me in the breakaway. I took the opportunity when I saw it and I can’t believe it came off!”
Henderson will enter the third stage of the Giro d'Italia not only wearing the pink jersey of the overall leader, but also as the race's first Queen of the Mountain's jersey too. Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto's Antonia Niedermaier will wear the white jersey.
How it happened
After stage one’s time trial, Monday’s race was the first chance riders had to battle for a stage win on the road - and the course promised unpredictable, volatile racing from the outset.
Beginning on the flat roads out of Clusone, riders were quickly into a short descent, but the real margins were to be made on the long drag uphill towards the ski-town of Aprica, with an average gradient of 3% throughout.
The peloton stuck close together for the first half of the race, pulling away at times to snake along the course before gathering again. It looked to be a race of attrition, with riders biding their time before the steady climb to come.
Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) made her first attack at 45 km to go, a move quickly neutralised as the peloton hit a steady 50km per hour. The peloton here began to break, with Dilyxine Miermont (Ceratizit Pro Cycling) putting a minute behind Henderson and the peloton before the pair joined up to lead the race at 40 km to the finish.
Working together, the pair alternated second-wheel positions, conserving energy whilst maintaining a steady speed at the head of the race. The second stage soon teased a winner as the riders moved towards the category 3 climb, with Henderson at the top of the virtual classification.
As the peloton approached the climb, tension grew in the group, with a crash for UAE Team ADQ and EF Education-Oatly at the back of the peloton (another in a series of crashes in this stage). Meanwhile, Henderson gained six seconds after winning the intermediate sprint at Malonno, followed by Miermont and Iurani Blanco of Human Powered Health.
Soraya Paladin of Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto led the group, pushing with visible effort into the rain-dappled mountain climb. However, Lidl-Trek seemed to be the strongest team of the race, with three riders dominating the chase group in support of their breakaway leader.
Late on in the stage, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and a small group split from the lead, and she ended up losing time to race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar) as a result.
As the road twisted towards the top of the climb, Miermont was in front, with Henderson close behind her. After a failed surge, Henderson remained close to Miermont’s wheel, refusing her call to the front after the leader flicked her elbow to motion the Brit forwards.
Then, with the finish line in sight, and the peloton firmly out of shot, Henderson stood up out of the saddle and sprinted across the finish line, with Miermont in second, and Paladin in third.
Results
Giro d'Italia Women, Stage two, Clusone > Aprica (92km)
1. Anna Henderson (GBr) Lidl-Trek, 2:24:30
2. Dilyxine Miermont (Fra) CERATIZIT Pro Cycling, at same time
3. Soraya Paladin (Ita) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, +0.26
4. Eleonora Ciabocco (Ita) Picnic PostNL, at same time
5. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, at same time
6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ, at same time
7. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) AG Insurance-Soudal, at same tim
8. Juliette Labous (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ, at same time
9. Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceunick, at same time
10. Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Lidl-Trek, at same time
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE TWO
1. Anna Henderson (GBr) Lidl-Trek, in 2:42:03
2. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +15s
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ, +31s
4. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +35s
5. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita) Liv AlUla Jayco, +56s
6. Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +56s
7. Katrine Aalerud (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +59s
8. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, +1:03
9. Juliette Labous (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ, +1:06
10. Dilyxine Miermont (Fra) CERATIZIT Pro Cycling, +1:10
