A demanding day on Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia saw Lidl-Trek on the offensive and Shirin van Anrooij finish in third
After a day for the sprinters yesterday, Lidl-Trek remained true to its pre-race promise of racing aggressively and targeting stage wins. Every attack featured the iconic red-blue-yellow colors, the most notable being a long-range early move by Stage 2 winner Anna Henderson, Amanda Spratt’s select breakaway through the hills, and Shirin’s late move from the pink jersey group to nab the final podium spot.
Shirin made her move with 6km remaining, just after Spratty was finally reeled in, and quickly gained ground on the group of GC favorites. She initially started to reduce the gap to the two remaining leaders; Lippert and Rooijakkers, but eventually the 2v1 fight went the way of the leaders, who stayed away to the finish. Lippert took the stage and Shirin crossed the line 46 seconds later, some 40 seconds ahead of the main GC group which contained Spratty and Bella Holmgren.
With two important stages yet to come, Lidl-Trek have riders well-placed in the GC: Bella in 9th, Spratty 10th, and Shirin 12th. However, the top goal remains to target another stage victory.
Shirin’s comment
“Yeah, I think we were just in every break already from like kilometer zero along, so it was really nice and I think we were all on a good day. Yeah, then when we caught Spratty I thought it was a good moment, but a bit sad that of course there were two riders in front of it already. But yeah, I think we rode really good as a team. It’s nice to start feeling more like myself again after a bit of a bad day on the first GC day. It’s nice to find the good legs back.”
