Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s Linda Villumsen just missed out on the top ten at the end of the brutal fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia Femminile – the Giro Rosa – at the top of the 14km climb to the summit of Monte Beigua. As the peloton shattered on the steep gradients, Villumsen managed to hold on to take eleventh place, just 4’23” behind solo stage winner Mara Abbott (United States).
“Linda was going well,” said Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling directeur sportif Simon Cope. “Once she got into her rhythm she was climbing really well. She looked really good on the climd, and will have climbed up a little bit on the general classification. Tomorrow’s another mountaintop finish, so we’re hopeful she can do it again.
“The climb was vicious. It was a very narrow road, very uneven,” he continued. “I don’t think there was a smooth bit on it, actually.
“It was a very, very encouraging ride from Linda, especially since she hasn’t raced much this season,” he added.
With the team determined to play its part in the stage, Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s former two-time World champion Giorgia Bronzini managed to get into a 12-rider breakaway group, which escaped after the first classified climb of the day. Despite opening up a lead of almost a minute over the peloton, however, the group was chased down before the climb to Monte Beigua began.
“Giorgia got into the break to give herself a bit of sliding room,” Cope explained. “So that she would be near the front of the peloton when the final climb started.”
Result
1. Mara Abbott (United States National Team)
2. Francesca Cauz (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo)
3. Fabiana Luperini (Faren-Kuota)
11. Linda Villumsen (Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling)
