Van Vleuten wears the pink even stronger after his attack in the Giro Donne
Photo: ANP
Annemiek van Vleuten continued to lead the Giro Don. The 40-year-old Jersey Rosette rider finished third on stage four of the Tour of Italy. Elisa Longo Borghini was the fastest of a group of three on the stage from Fidenza to Borgo Val di Taro after 134 kilometres. She beat American Veronica Ewers and Van Vleuten.
The trio was 40 seconds ahead of the peloton as Lorena Wiebes won the sprint for fourth place ahead of Marianne Vos. World champion Van Vleuten is 49 seconds ahead of Luongo Borghini and 53 seconds ahead of Ewers in the general classification.
On the penultimate climb, Passo Montevacà, there was an attack by American Ewers. She bested Ilse Pluimers, the last remaining boss from the early breakaway and continued on her own. On the descent, there was a counter-attack from Italy’s Silvia Persico, but it didn’t get much of a lead.
Van Vleuten counterattacked Longo Borghini on the Category 3 Strella climb. The two met up with Ewers and the three of them rode to the finish at Borgo Val di Taro. Obviously, the Italian was the strongest in the race.
Giro Donne runs through Saturday.
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