Giro d’Italia Donne: Chiara Consonni wins final stage as Van Vleuten secures overall victory

On stage 9 of the Giro d’Italia Donne, Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) sprinted to final day victory in Olbia whilst race leader Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) finished safely to secure her fourth maglia rosa in her final season as she prepares for retirement.

After catching the day’s last attacker 5km from the finish, it was all together for a sprint on the long and fast finishing straight in Olbia, where Consonni launched her sprint early but managed to hold it all the way to the line, beating Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) into second and Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep) in third.

Consonni’s win offered a final dose of victory to teammate Marta Bastianelli, who is retiring after this Giro to bring to a close a 17-year career that has included a world title and wins in almost all the biggest Classics.

“This is for Marta,” Consonni said at the finish. “Because today is her last stage and I’m really happy to share this feeling and this emotion with her and all the girls in the team.”

With no time gaps to report on a largely flat day, Annemiek van Vleuten rolled in in the bunch to secure the overall win, the fourth of her career after a dominant performance that saw her take three stages and a winning margin of almost four minutes. Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich) finished second, whilst break-out star of 2022 Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) completed the GC podium in third.

“Winning a GC is always super special, because you need to do it with a team,” Van Vleuten said. “This is my second [Giro win] with Movistar, and I’m super proud of the team to finish it off. It’s stressful but you have the team around you and that makes it special.

Finishing her final-ever Giro, Van Vleuten recounted one of her favourite memories from the race: “I think it was my first year when I was riding with Marianne Vos for the Dutch national selection. We had a finish on the Stelvio and that was the moment that I fell in love with the Giro, and with Italy.

Racing recap

It was another scorching day in Sardinia as the riders set off for the final day in temperatures that would reach 37°C. After a send-off for Marta Bastianelli at the start, the riders set off for a 126.5km traverse across the north of the island. Perhaps due to the heat, it was a quiet start to the day without too many early attacks, and the first proper moves did not come until the final 70km of the race.

Iris Monticolo (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and Anna Kiesenhofer (Israel Premier Tech Roland) were both briefly away on solo pursuits, but both were back in the peloton by the top of the second climb of the day with 50km to go. With 44km to go, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) was the next rider to try an attack, pulling out a group as many teams didn’t want to let the Dane get away, but soon it all came back together.

Despite the flat finish, plenty of riders were keen to try something different and foil the chances of a bunch sprint, with the likes of stage 8 winner Blanka Vas (SD Worx) and Liane Lippert (Movistar) both active on the front, albeit not getting away. With 26km to go, Alessia Vigilia (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) attacked and was allowed to get away with a small gap, but her time out front was limited as the sprint teams began to amass.

The Italian was brought back in the final 5km, and it was all together for a bunch sprint on the flat finish in Olbia. A repeat of stage 8, it was once again Sarah Roy (Canyon-SRAM) who executed the clearest lead-out in support of Chloé Dygert, but it soon became a drag race to the line as the lead-out disintegrated. Consonni launched her sprint early, alongside Rachele Barbieri (Liv Racing TeqFind), but despite the length of her effort, no one could come round the Italian and Consonni repeated her final stage victory from last year’s Giro.

Vos finished second just behind Consonni, making this the first Giro she’s started and not won a stage, and in fact the first stage race in five years where she has come away without a victory. Ally Wollaston sprinted well to third, improving her results from the previous sprints to take her first WorldTour podium finish.

Annemiek van Vleuten finished safely in the bunch to secure her fourth overall win at the Giro, and now her sixth Grand Tour victory in a row. Having won the Vuelta Femenina in May, the world champion’s hopes of repeating her 2022 success and winning the Vuelta, Giro and Tour de France Femmes are still alive and well.