After coming close on several occasions in the early stages, the victory finally came for world champion Lotte Kopecky. The Belgian, in Maglia Rossa, dominated the sprint of Foligno, distancing the winner of the Volta Mantovana stage, Chiara Consonni, and the Cuban national champion, Arlenis Sierra. The stage victory changed the general classification where Kopecky moved, thanks to a 10-second bonus, to just 3″ behind Elisa Longo Borghini. From tomorrow until Sunday comes a triptych of very tough stage that could change the face of the classification of an open and spectacular Giro d’Italia Women.

Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Lotte Kopecky, said: “I have to be thankful to my teammates controlled the race the whole day. In the final Elena Cecchini and Barbara Guarischi made a perfect leadout to help me reaching this victory, that was my goal since the start of the Giro. I am only 3 seconds behind the Maglia Rosa but I have to be realistic as I think that Blockhaus is too hard for me. I want to ride without pressure and see what it comes in the upcoming days”.

The Maglia Rosa Elisa Longo Borghini said: “Today was a good stage in which I tried to save my leg ahead of the next triptych which will be decisive for the general classification. Lotte Kopecky got closer but it makes little difference to me because the gaps will be much bigger in the coming days. I really like tomorrow’s stage and I want to do well”.