Bouncing back from a rare sprint defeat the day before, Maglia Rosa Marianne Vos (Rabobank) jumped away from the rest of a very select group on the uphill finish of stage seven, to take her fourth victory in the 2012 Giro d’Italia Femminile. The World number one anticipated the jump of big rival, Swedish champion Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-Mistral Home) at the end of the hilly 129km stage between Voghera and Castagnole delle Lanze; Johansson took second place behind Vos, just ahead of five-time Giro winner Fabiana Luperini (Faren-Honda).
"Now my efforts are concentrated on the Maglia Rosa, but the team was impeccable as always and I feel better day after day so I took this opportunity to also take the stage victory,” said Vos afterwards. “The last two stages? I like both.
“As you've seen I do not care what kind they are, I always try to give my best.”
Despite there being no time gap to her biggest contenders in the general classification, a ten second time bonus meant that Vos increased her lead over stage three winner Evie Stevens (Specialized-lululemon) to 1’54”, with Emma Pooley (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) still third at 2’30”.
Another large group gets away but can’t make it too far
After a number of unsuccessful attacks in the predominantly uphill first part of the stage, a group of twelve riders finally made it clear after 42km. In the group were Noemi Cantele and Elke Gebhardt (both Be Pink), Australian champion Amanda Spratt (Orica-GreenEdge), Italian champion Giada Borgato (Diadora-Pasta Zara), stage six winner Shelley Olds (AA Drink-Leontien.nl), Anna Van der Breggen (Netherlands), Ina Teutenberg (Specialized-lulumenon), Marta Tagliaferro and Alessandra Borchi (both MCipollini-Giambenini), Lise Nøstvold (Hitec Products-Mistral Home), Liesbet De Vocht (Rabobank) and Romy Kasper (RusVelo).
After 72km the group’s lead reached 3’38” before it began to steadily come down as the hilly final sector if the stage began. With 50km to go the gap was down to three minutes, but it was allowed to rise to 4’34” a few kilometres later.
With 20km to go the twelve riders’ lead was just 2’30” when De Vocht attacked; she was quickly chased down by Olds, who took the intermediate sprint in Santo Stefano Belbo with 17.7km to go, only for Cantele and Gebhardt to try to get away. All the attacks were of no avail however, and the group was caught by the peloton shortly afterwards, as the big climb to Camo began.
Steadily the front group reduced to just a dozen riders as it passed over the top of the climb with 12.1km to go and, on the short climb to the finish that followed, Vos managed to outpace her rivals to take her fourth stage of the race so far.
Giro Donne, stage 7:
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Stichting Rabobank
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products-Mistral Home
3. Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Faren-Honda
4. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon
5. Judith Arndt (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge
6. Emma Pooley (GBr) AA Drink Leontien.nl
7. Rasa Leleivyte (Ltu) Vaiano-Tepso
8. Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) MCipollini-Giambenini
9. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) Lotto-Belisol @ 6"
10. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products-Mistral Home
Standings after stage 7:
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Stichting Rabobank
2. Evelyn Stevens (USA) Specialized-lululemon @ 1'54"
3. Emma Pooley (GBr) AA Drink-Leontien.nl @ 2'30''
4. Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Faren-Honda @ 3'03''
5. Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) MCipollini-Giambenini @ 4'24''
6. Claudia Häusler (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge @ 4'37''
7. Judith Arndt (Ger) Orica-GreenEdge @ 4'41"
8. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products-Mistral Home @ 5'31"
9. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) Lotto-Belisol @ 5'36"
10. Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge @ 5'38"