Today's stage 4 on the Giro d'Italia, a mountain TT, was one Lara Gillespie simply had to get through, and tomorrow looks like more of the same before her next chance arrives (Photo: Marco Alpozzi)
Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) may have been in the thick of it, finishing 2nd twice, on the opening stages of the Giro d'Italia, but the stage 4 mountain TT today was never going to be to her liking.
It was one the Irish sprinter simply had to get through, and tomorrow's hilly stage, with it's 3,500m of climbing, looks like more of the same before she, hopefully, gets her next chance at a sprint, on Thursday.
However, Gillespie put in a decent ride today in the 12.7km TT - some 7.4km of which was a cat 1 climb to the line at Nevegal. She was 73rd, of the 141 starters, some 6:36 down.
The winner on the day, Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx-Protime) put in the kind of ride that schooled the other best riders in the world.
Advertisement
Anna van der Breggen of Team SD Worx- Protime put in a monster ride to win the TT and take the race lead into Nevegal (Photo: Marco Alpozzi)
The 36-year-old, who returned to competition last year after three-year retirement, has made a major bid for a fourth overall victory on this race.
She won the stage by a whopping 1:03 over runner-up Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team), with hot favourite Demi Vollering (FDJ United Suez) was 3rd at 1:06.
Related News
And while there is a lot of climbing to come, including tomorrow's stage and stage 8 to Sestriere - with Finestre on the way - van der Breggen looked like she was back to her best today, reaching a level that proved beyond her last season.
With just over one minute on her nearest rivals, Vollering now needs to go on the attack and drop van der Breggen on the climbs. The one upside for her is that she has plenty of time to get stuck into that project.
However, given van der Breggen's performance was so far ahead of the others today, she will fancy her chances of at least matching Vollering and the other favourites.
Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek finally lost the race leader's pink jersey after winning the first three stages in sprints (Photo: Marco Alpozzi)
A time trial that shook up the foundations of the GC. A new Maglia Rosa, significant gaps and plenty of mountains still to come. This race is far from over. 🍿
.
Una cronometro che ha scosso le fondamenta della classifica generale. Nuova Maglia Rosa, distacchi importanti e ancora… pic.twitter.com/LIrD2DrZ8N— Giro d'Italia Women (@girowomen) June 2, 2026
