WomensCycling.net - race coverage, Stage 6 - Giro, Giro Donne, Tour of Italy

Olga Slyusareva (Colnago Fenixs) took her third stage of the Giro in a sprint finish. Leading into the straight through a right hand bend with 150m to go, Giorgia Bronzini (AS Team FRW) had to adjust her line as she went wide. Despite a huge effort, Bronzini had to content herself with second place. Monica Baccaille (Team Saccarelli Emu) was third.

Edita Puckinskaite (Nobili) took over the mountains jersey from Nicole Brändli. Despite that change, Slyusareva remains the leader in the other competitions.

The finish town, Novi Ligure was the home town of cycling great, Fausto Coppi. A special presentation was made to the stage winner outside of the Museum of Champions.

The bunch stayed together for the initial kilometres of the race. The climb, 30km from the finish was a tough summit to reach, the road dragged upwards almost form the start. But it was the final 2.5 kilometres at 6% gradient which really hurt the field. Edita Puckinskaite was first over the line, a breakaway had taken her clear 10km from the summit. She clearly had her heart set on this one. The points were sufficient to put her into the mountain leader's jersey. Initially Puckinskaite gained 25 seconds, then she was joined by Tatiana Guderzo (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and Andrea Graus (Team Bigla). The trio stayed clear until after the GPM point, when Puckinskaite sat up.

A main bunch stayed together through the descent and towards the finish. There were various attempts by riders to take the advantage early in the closing kilometres. Regina Schleicher (Nürnberger), Edita Puckinskaite (Nobili) and Nicole Brändli (Team Bigla) all attacked, but were not allowed off the front. It all came down to the sprint and as the bunch came into sight around the final bend, Slyusareva was already ahead. She continued sprinting hard up the finishing straight and celebrated her third stage win in this Giro with a two-handed salute.

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Results - Top 10 - Click here for full results

Position	Name / Surname	Team	Time	Gap	Bonus
1	SLYUSAREVA Olga	COLNAGO - FENIX	1:51'07	0	11
2	BRONZINI Giorgia	TEAM FRW	1:51'07	0	6
3	BACCAILLE Monica	TEAM SACCARELLI EMU	1:51'07	0	4
4	LJNGSKOG Susanne	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	1:51'07	0
5	HENNES Tanja	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	1:51'07	0
6	WOOD Oenone	NURNBERGER VERSICHERUNG	1:51'07	0
7	CORNEO Sigrid	NOBILI RUBINETTERIE	1:51'07	0
8	WYSOCKA Malgorzata	SC MICHELA FANINI RECORD	1:51'07	0
9	LANG Meng	GIANT PRO CYCLING	1:51'07	0
10	URBONAITE Zita	SAFI - PASTA ZARA MANHATT	1:51'07	0

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General Classification Top 10 - Click here for Full GC

Position	Name / Surname	Team	Time	Gap
1	SLYUSAREVA Olga	COLNAGO - FENIX	13:49'17	0
2	BRANDLI Nicole	BIGLA CYCLING TEAM	13:49'38	21
3	PUCINSKAITE Edita	NOBILI RUBINETTERIE	13:49'49	32
4	LJNGSKOG Susanne	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	13:49'53	36
5	BEUTLER Annette	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	13:49'56	39
6	BACCAILLE Monia	TEAM SACCARELLI EMU	13:49'59	42
7	LUPERINI Fabiana	TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO	13:50'03	46
8	VILLUMSEN Linda	BUITENPOORT-FLEXPOINT	13:50'07	50
9	CANTELE Noemi	BIGLA CYCLING TEAM	13:50'08	51
10	BUBNENKOVA Svetlana	COLNAGO - FENIX	13:50'13	56

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