Demi Vollering sized up her Giro d'Italia Women GC rivals on stage 3

A stage with fewer than 1,000 metres of climbing can hardly mean much, can it? In the Giro d’Italia Women, apparently the rules are different. On a short, steep climb, stage three exploded, and the GC favourites suddenly found themselves face to face. It came to nothing in the end, but the first test had been run. Marlen Reusser passed that test.

The Swiss rider from Movistar is hoping to take the pink jersey this year after finishing second last season, and she was alert when FDJ-SUEZ and Demi Vollering went full gas on the climb to Montenars. At the summit, only Reusser, Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx-Protime and Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ were left in the wheel of the European champion.

It was therefore the first time the GC favourites had really tested their legs, and rather unexpectedly too. “It was a very short, but steep climb,” Reusser explained after the finish in the flash interview. “If you saw who was there, you could say it was a GC test. But the decision will come on a different kind of climb, you know,” the Movistar leader said with a smile.

On the descent and the flat section after the climb, things slowed down in the front group, even though several riders tried to attack there. “We were mainly thinking about not losing time and not crashing. Of course you also think about an opportunity, and if it comes, you have to try. But we found it hard enough.”

It is still a little strange that FDJ-SUEZ shook the tree and then later the pace dropped away. Why was there no collaboration in the group of favourites? “It is the group of favourites, you know,” Reusser laughed. “Nobody wants to not be there. We were all there, but you do not want to miss it. But then it always gets a little difficult.”

One GC leader who was not there on the climb was Antonia Niedermaier. The German rider from Canyon//SRAM finished fifth in the general classification last year, but after a crash just before the foot of the climb she had to chase back. It was a worrying moment, but luckily for her she was able to return thanks to her teammates.

There was a brief scare, though. “I saw from the foot of the climb that they were already halfway up. When they started attacking, I thought: ‘Oh my God.’ I was afraid of losing time, but I had to trust my teammates to bring me back. I know we have a strong team, especially Cecilie [Uttrup Ludwig, ed.]. I was not too stressed, because we made it.”