Annemiek van Vleuten wins ahead of Mavi Garcia as general classification gets blown wide open on Stage 4 of Giro Donne

Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar) powered away from Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) to take the win on Stage 4 of the Giro Donne, a result that blew the general classification wide open.

With a little over 40km to go a group emerged at the front of Marta Cavalli (FDJ), Garcia and Van Vleuten.

However in the final 12km Cavalli was distanced as Van Vleuten found another gear and tried to speed things up despite the Dutchwoman seeming to struggle with the descent in parts.

The day was billed as a stage for a breakaway with an undulating 120km route starting and finishing in Cesena. The first time the race has hit the hills after a time trial and two stages for the sprinters.

However the three at the front worked seamlessly together just after the 40km mark to blow the race wide open. The trio made light work of the final category three climb as they opened up a lead of three and half minutes at the peak of the climb, with Garcia taking the maximum six Queen of the Mountains points on offer.

The chasing group behind including Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) and Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) were disjointed in their attempt to hunt down the trio at with Cecilie Ludwig and Evita Muzic of Team DSM choosing to stay at the back of group and put their hope in Cavalli for the stage win.

Cavalli would eventually get dropped on the final uncategorized climb of the day as Van Vleuten mounted a flurry of high intensity attacks. Garcia stayed with the Dutchwomen as the pair started to pull away over the crest of the final climb.

Cavalli responded well and really pushed to try and get back to the front two but ultimately she just ran out of road as with half a kilometre to go Garcia made a move of her own, trying to pull away.

The newly crowned Spanish national champion knew she would not be able to live with Van Vleuten in a flat out sprint finish so launched a long range attack 500m to the line.

But Van Vleuten had her number, bouncing back and taking the win in the final stages of the race to take the stage and the lead of the race.

Van Vleuten will now wear the Maglia Rosa going into the fifth stage on Tuesday which should be one for the sprinters with the peloton tackling a 126.1km route from Carpi to Reggio Emilia.

Following her victory Van Vleuten said Today was not a day I thought I would go for it but Attack is the best way to defend”

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