Had Vollering and Gery cooked up a plan on Friday? ‘I did not know what to do with the situation’

On paper it looked like a stage that would not produce much fireworks, but the Giro Donne still produced a very attractive seventh stage on Friday. Three remaining escapees stayed clear and then some big names jumped across from the peloton on the descent. Célia Gery would eventually win the stage, but had the Frenchwoman even envisaged it that way?

A five-rider breakaway went clear early on Friday and, because Lidl-Trek wanted to sprint with Elisa Balsamo, the gap to the front was quickly brought down. Once they reached the only climb of the day, the difference was down to just half a minute on the three remaining riders at the front.

It was FDJ-SUEZ that wanted to enter the descent first, and Gery immediately did so with team leader Demi Vollering on her wheel. At first it seemed like a classic case of staying out of trouble, but suddenly the young Frenchwoman had opened a gap. Was that the intention, or not?

“I am obviously super happy,” Gery said afterwards in the flash interview. “I did not really expect this before the start. We just wanted to keep Demi at the front, but in the end I had a small gap. At first I thought I had made a mistake, but in the end I kept riding,” she admitted that it was not planned like that.

And then? “I really did not know what to do with the situation. Should I keep riding? Or not? In the end I was able to play it tactically and I had to stay sharp in the finale with my head, because I knew Lucinda Brand would try something.” The Dutchwoman was ultimately narrowly beaten in the sprint.

What is left now for Gery, who took her first win in a Grand Tour? The Frenchwoman immediately thought of Vollering. “The goal today was to keep Demi safe and I think that worked. Tomorrow the big goal is once again to help her. She really wants to win the Giro, and everything is geared towards that.”