Sarah Gigante wins again at the Giro

Sarah Gigante wins again at the Giro

The Australian returned onto the overall podium with one day to go after another sumptuous performance and a superb team effort.

Sarah Gigante made it a pair of stage victories at the Giro d’Italia Women, conquering the gruelling gradients of Monte Nerone – the main difficulty of a day that featured a total of four classified climbs and 3700 vertical meters.

Already victorious at the Corsa Rosa on Wednesday, AG Insurance – Soudal’s 24-year-old benefitted from her teammates’ hard work – including 19-year-old Lore De Schepper – and attacked more than six kilometers from the finish this time, joining Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), who was up the road, and dropping the Italian just 500 meters later. Gigante extended her lead over the chasers on her way to the top, even on the most gruelling part of the climb, and wrapped up the win – her fourth in our team’s jersey.

“I just feel so grateful to my squad, because we did the whole race so well together. I knew the whole team was 100% committed to the plan, and that was to get a spot on the podium in the GC. The stage win is just an extra bonus, after a perfect day for us. We had no pressure coming into today after already having a great week, but today was very special, and I’m really just so happy”, said Sarah after Saturday’s result, which helped her move up three places in the overall standings, where she now sits third ahead of the final stage.

“I felt good today and I went for it. I enjoyed the ascent until the final kilometer, where it became difficult to the point that I began asking myself why I like climbing so much. But despite the steep gradient, I kept pushing, and I am delighted that I managed to return in the top three overall at the end of the stage. Obviously, it will be hard to defend it on Sunday, but we will give our best again”, added the Aussie – who remains in contention also for the QOM jersey – after the race.