Having missed what would have been an historic start in Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after a crash, Megan Armitage returned to racing with Team Ireland at the World Championships in Glasgow and is now back in the European pro peloton with her trade team, Arkéa Pro Cycling.
She has very much hit the ground running, showing great consistency over four stages of racing in Italy to take one of her best results of the season. That should set her up for what will hopefully be a fruitful final phase of the 2023 road season.
The Irish rider, who has signed for EF Education-Cannondale for the next two years, had been in action at Giro Toscana Int Femminile and impressed over the four days of action to secure a very strong general classification result.
Advertisement
The 27-year-old Irishwoman finished the event in 5th overall, some 15 seconds behind Alessia Vigilia (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), who was awarded the overall victory by a jury decision following a controversial finish to the final stage.
Imogen Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck Continental) was also in the race but did not start the fourth stage after crashing the previous day. She was sitting 52nd overall, 55 seconds down, at the start of stage 3 before her crash.
Related News
Armitage finished 16th in the 2.2km prologue that began the race in Campi Bisenzio, Florence, last Thursday, when she was just 10 seconds down on winner Franziska Brauße (CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling). Saturday's stage 2 took the riders 99.35km from Quaratta to Serrvalle Pistoiese, where the race finished on a final ramp of 1.2km.
The remains of the main field split to pieces on the climb to the line - averaging 6.5 per cent - with six strong riders pulling clear; all credited on the same time as winner Rasa Leleivytė (Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano). Armitage was in that group, just four seconds clear of the next 12 riders, but with the gaps back through the field much bigger, moving Armitage up to 6th overall.
The following day, Saturday, the field faced a 116.8km stage starting and finishing in Segromigno in Piano. Though the terrain was mainly flat, a 5.7km climb was situated close to the end of the stage, with a 6.5km descent into the finish.
That difficulty proved enough to split the race, with 12 riders pulling clear, and Armitage once again in the front group. The Irish rider placed 5th, in the same time as stage winner; her Russian team mate Anastasiya Kolesava.
On Sunday, the race concluded with a 129.25km stage from Lucca to Montecatini Alto, with eight short and sharp climbs, including the final 5km ascent to the finish. Armitage once again made the cut in the front group, this time numbering 23 riders. Olha Kulynych (Ukraine) took a solo win, some six seconds up on the 22 chasers.
There was a dispute in that chasing group over the manner of the final sprint for the decisive bonus seconds on the line. Rasa Leleivytė (Aromitalia-Basso Bikes-Vaiano) crossed the line in 3rd place, which would have secured her four bonus seconds and seen her leapfrog above race leader Alessia Vigilia (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and into the final yellow jersey.
However, after Leleivytė finished 3rd, just edging out the race leader by one place, the jury found the yellow jersey had been impeded in the sprint. It meant Leleivytė was relegated to back of the group, losing her 3rd place and time bonus to Vigilia, ensuring the Italian held yellow to win the race overall.
Vigilia claimed overall victory on home turf by six seconds from Leleivytė, with Kolesava 3rd at 10 seconds and former world cyclocross champion, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck), 4th at 12 seconds. Armitage was next; in 5th overall at 16 seconds for a top result on her trade team return.
