The last day of racing at the Giro d’Italia Women saw the peloton tackle another day over the climbs, but without the big summit finish. However, the testing terrain and hot conditions would make for another challenging day in the saddle. Looking to leave their mark on the race for one final time, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL aimed to animate the afternoon in an attempt to go for the stage win.
From the off it was cagey in the peloton and became more a race of attrition as they tackled the early climbs, with the peloton slowly thinning down. Some strong support from the team saw Franziska Koch and Juliette Labous make it over the top of the highest peak of the day in the around 30-rider strong peloton. After that the attacks followed with both Koch and Labous trying their luck, with Koch eventually forcing clear a trio on her second big attack.
The trio worked well together and extended their advantage over the Maglia Rosa group, and heading onto the uncategorised climbs and drag up to the line they held roughly 45 seconds over the bunch. A relentless Koch came back to the other duo in the break after initially losing contact on the penultimate climb, making sure she was in the mix to go for the stage. With the finish gantry in sight, it was a slog to the line as the sprint opened up. Koch gave her everything, gritting her teeth, but just couldn’t come around the other two; settling for a strong third place on the day.
Back in the Maglia Rosa group there were attacks on the run-up to the line, where Labous sprinted to fifth place on the stage; the same result that she and the team secured in the overall GC battle as well.