Watch: Giro d'Italia Donne stage 8 highlights

After a rest day to travel to Sardinia for the final weekend of the Giro Donne, the racing started up again on stage 8 with an undulating course from Nuoro to Sassari. It was an unorthodox move by the organisers to take the race away from the mainland for the final weekend of racing, however it did offer the peloton dynamic, punchy racing from the hilly Mediterranean island. With the GC all but settled with Annemiek van Vleuten’s lead in the overall sitting at around the four minute mark, the final weekend of the Giro Donne was all about who could get stage glory.

The racing was so aggressive that hardly any riders were able to get any real breakaway attempts up the road, and all was together going into the last 30km, when the favourites started attacking each other. Despite some big names going on the offensive, none of them stuck and it came back together for a sprint finish on the uphill drag to the line.

Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) had the best lead-out from teammate Sarah Roy, but it was a battle of strength to the line and at the last moment Blanka Vas (SD Worx) was able to come around the American to take the biggest win of her career yet. Vas, a mountain bike and cross racer, has had a resurgent 2023 season on the road and looks set to be a major part of the SD Worx arsenal throughout the cycling calendar. Movistar’s Liane Lippert rounded out the top three.