Lotta Lepisto picked up a sprint victory in Wednesday’s stage 6 at the Giro Rosa. She out-sprinted American Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) and Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle High5) to take her fifth win of the season.
The 116.16-kilometer race was four circuits around Roseto degli Abruzzi. The route included a categorized climb of Piana degli Ulivi.
A group of three went away on the final lap, crossing the last classified climb with a gap that was just shy of one minute. Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) took maximum points on the mountain. Soraya Paladin (Alè-Cipollini) and Sofia Bertizzolo (Astana) were the Brit’s two companions.
However, after Wednesday’s individual time trial, a bunch sprint was in the cards. The peloton caught the trio. Then, Lepisto collected Cervelo-Bigla’s first victory in the Women’s WorldTour’s biggest stage race this year.
“I was in position 30 going up the climb the last time but I gave it all on the descent and ended up in position two at the bottom of the descent, getting into a good position for the sprint,” said Lepisto.
Lepisto, 28, is a five-time national champ in Finland, currently wearing the blue and white champion’s jersey as both road race and time trial champion.
“It was a very hot stage and the race was fast which made it hard. We did the circuit four times but despite it being so hard, I was feeling good,” the Finnish champion added.
Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) continued to lead the general classification with four stages left. Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5) was second overall, and Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) was in third.
The Giro Rosa resumes Thursday with the 141.98km stage 7 from Isernia to Baronissi. Although it is the longest stage of the Giro Rosa, it features just one categorized climb and may give the sprinters one more chance to race for a stage win.
Stage 6, top five
1. Lotta Lepistö (Cervelo-Bigla) in 2:50:36
2. Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb), st
3. Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-High5), st
4. Roxane Fournier (FDJ), st
5. Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM), st
Top-five overall
1. Anna Van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) in 11:53:11
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5), +1’03
3. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott), +1’39
4. Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans), +3’11
5. Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott), +3’32
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