Bigla crowns sponsorship extension with stage win at the Giro Rosa

The eighth stage of the Giro Rosa led the riders over 133.3 km from Vittorio Veneto to Managio, the longest stage of this year's Giro Rosa.

After the first half of the race, the 6.7km long and more than 6 per cent steep ascent over the Forcella di Pala Barzana in Andreis awaited the riders. This was followed by a second QOM in Clauzetto after 96km in the saddle before a downhill passage through Prinzano al Tagliamento, Sequals und Fanna and a final 30 km flat passage to the finish in Managio.

After all early escape attempts had been thwarted, a soloist was able to break away on the second climb of the day. However, this attempt remained unrewarded as the peloton caught up with the escapee. With 30km to go, Elizabeth Banks and Leah Thomas managed to get into a small group of riders who went off the front. 20km later, Lizzy launched a solo attack while her teammate Leah controlled the pace in the chasing group and neutralised numerous attacks. None of the chasers were able to catch up to Lizzy, and in the end she crossed the finishing line in first place, claiming victory on the eighth stage of the Giro Rosa, a fantastic result thanks to great teamwork.

Leah won the sprint among the chasing group, providing the team with first and second place on the stage, a phenomenal team effort, which comes on the same day that the team announced a sponsorship extension for next year.

After the stage, Lizzy described her win: “I can hardly believe it! We had two riders in the escapee group, but the group wasn’t working well, so we knew that we had to attack. I went with around 10km remaining, and Thomas, our Team Manager, was encouraging me, and Leah was working so hard in the group to neutralise all the attacks. I really love racing with Bigla, and this victory is thanks to my fantastic teammates and all the staff who have been working so hard at this race.”

Leah Thomas added: “I got away from the peloton, and Lizzy also managed to bridge across. We worked well, but then towards the end, the group wasn’t working so well any more, and we risked getting caught. We knew we had to attack, and Lizzy’s attempt ended up being successful. I neutralised several attacks and Lizzy was able to maintain her gap over the chasing group and eventually take the win. I’m also happy that I was able to take second place, and we really couldn’t have had a better result today.”

Team Manager Thomas Campana praised the team for their hard work in making this win possible: "This is a beautiful day for us. Just two hours after we announced the extension of our sponsorship with Bigla for another year, the team takes a stage win with Lizzy Banks and second place with Leah Thomas. This is a fantastic reward for the hard work the whole team has put into this Giro Rosa.”

Photo credit: Sean Robinson / Vélofocus.com