The mountain time trial was a race of truth at the Giro Women, with strong rides from Isabella Holmgren and Niamh Fisher-Black
A 12.7-kilometre uphill time trial was always going to bring the strongest climbers to the fore at the Giro d’Italia Women. With three sprint days to open the race – in which Elisa Balsamo took back-to-back wins – the fourth stage was made for general classification riders. After staying safe and supporting sprint victories in the first half of the race, Lidl-Trek’s climbers, Isabella Holmgren and Niamh Fisher-Black, were ready to face a big test today following months of preparation.
Both riders used road bikes with time trial extensions for their efforts, allowing them to be as aerodynamic as possible without sacrificing weight or power transfer when the road began to kick up. Isabella took to the start first, producing an impressively controlled and well-executed ride to take the lead in white jersey competition. A few minutes after the young Canadian rider finished, Niamh began her own 30-minutes of pain to the finish in Nevegal. The 25-year-old ended up just behind her teammate in 11th place overall – a solid ride with plenty of climbing still to come in this Giro.
It was Elisa Balsamo’s last day in the Maglia Rosa after a special three stages. She now will wear the red jersey as the leader of the points classification and her aim will be to defend this until the race reaches its conclusion.
Image: Anouk Flesch
In Bella’s words
I did my best effort today so I am really happy with that. We’ve had a really good start to the Giro with the team I hope it keeps going up from here. I think holding on to the white jersey would be a nice goal but we just have to see how we’ll play it. There’s still a lot of stages to come and you never know what can happen.
