WomensCycling.net - race coverage, Stage 4 - Giro, Giro Donne, Tour of Italy

It was another hot stage for the riders today. The race encountered its first real climbs, with two in the first 50km, then another just 8km from the finish. Although various riders tried attacks, no one was successful in staying away. Silvia Valsecchi (Nobili) managed to gain enough advantage on the chasing bunch that the commissaires sent the neutral service car in behind her, but she wasn't able to stay away.

The back of the race was split, by the climbs and crashes. The result was that several bunches finished together in Arezzo. Some of the slower finishers did not beat the time limit and will not be eligible to start Stage 5.

A group of twelve broke away with about 10km to go. These were the riders to contest the finale. Brandli and Slyusarea were both in the group. The sprint by Olga Slyusareva was another dominant display. Just as she did on Stage 3, she was able to sit up and raise her arms as crossed the line ahead of the others. Slyusareva clearly had this one sewn up as the small group sprinted up the long, wide finishing straight. The win puts the Russian road champion into the leader's pink jersey, thanks to time bonuses.

Stage 5 is a tough climber's stage. There are three laps of a circuit, including the climb at Montecarlo on the 29km circuit.

Back to Top

Post Race Comments

Olga Slyusareva "I dedicate this victory to my team-mates. They worked hard today to help me get this win. I want to try to defend my position until the end of the Giro."

Back to Top

Results - Top 10 - click here to see full result

Position	Name / Surname	Team	Time	Gap	Bonus
1	SLYUSAREVA Olga	COLNAGO - FENIX	3:43'48	0	12
2	CANTELE Noemi	BIGLA CYCLING TEAM	3:43'48	0	6
3	BACCAILLE Monia	TEAM SACCARELLI EMU	3:43'48	0	4
4	PUCINSKAITE Edita	NOBILI RUBINETTERIE	3:43'48	0
5	ITURRIAGAECH Eneritz	TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO	3:43'48	0
6	LJNGSKOG Susanne	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	3:43'48	0
7	BRANDLI Nicole	BIGLA CYCLING TEAM	3:43'48	0
8	ALCADE Cristina	BISKAIA - PANDA SOFTWARE	3:43'48	0
9	GUDERZO Tatiana	TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO	3:43'48	0
10	BUBNENKOVA Svetlana	COLNAGO - FENIX	3:43'48	0

Back to Top

General Classification Top 10 - click here to see full GC

Position	Name / Surname	Team	Time	Gap
1	SLYUSAREVA Olga	COLNAGO - FENIX	9:35'39	0
2	BRANDLI Nicole	BIGLA CYCLING TEAM	9:35'47	8
3	PUCINSKAITE Edita	NOBILI RUBINETTERIE	9:36'01	22
4	LJNGSKOG Susanne	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	9:36'02	23
5	BEUTLER Annette	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	9:36'09	30
6	BACCAILLE Monia	TEAM SACCARELLI EMU	9:36'12	33
7	LUPERINI Fabiana	TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO	9:36'12	33
8	VILLUMSEN Linda	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	9:36'16	37
9	CANTELE Noemi	BIGLA CYCLING TEAM	9:36'20	41
10	BUBNENKOVA Svetlana	COLNAGO - FENIX	9:36'22	43

Back to Top

Photos Click on any image to enlarge >>

Back to Top

Want to contact WomensCycling.net?

The WomensCycling.net email address is

To contact the webmaster, the address is :

Type this address into the "To" line of a new email message in your email programme.

The WomensCycling.net email address is displayed as a graphic in order to reduce the amount of 'spam' email received from programmes which 'crawl' the internet for sites with addresses displayed in text and then overwhelm that address with junk, or even forge the address in junk messages that they generate and send to others. Sorry for any inconvenience this approach causes you.