Le Court defeats World Championships runner-up in Giro dell’Emilia, Kastelijn impresses with third place

Due to the timing of the European cycling championships, the start list for the Tour of Emilia was somewhat depleted. For example, defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini was not there, nor were Dutch top riders Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen. Nevertheless, with Fisher-Black, Le Court, and the brand-new world champion Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education - Oatly), there were still some big names at the start.

The course took the riders over a distance of 126.7 kilometers from Mirandola to Bologna. Just like in the men's race, the finish was on the dreaded San Luca climb. The climb was approximately 2 kilometers long, with a steep average gradient of 9.4 percent. A long flat approach of almost 100 kilometers preceded the vicious finale. The riders then had to tackle Monte Calvo (4.2 kilometers at 5.5 percent) and San Luca twice.

Although it took some time, a leading group of four riders eventually formed midway through the race. The peloton gave the four no more than a two-minute lead. On Monte Calvo, the breakaway group then fell apart. Irene Cagnazzo (BePink) proved to be the strongest of the four. The Italian was joined by Dutch rider Quinty Ton (Liv AlUla Jayco), who made the crossing from the peloton.

The pair built up a one-minute lead towards the first finish on San Luca. However, Ton and Cagnazzo were unable to defend that lead on the first passage of the difficult San Luca. Meanwhile, the stronger riders in the peloton made their first attacks. This resulted in a first group of fifteen riders forming on the nasty climb after San Luca. This group included world champion Vallieres and teammates Le Court and Ashleigh Moolman.

After a fast descent, the leading group of fifteen riders then began the final climb to the finish in Bologna. On the San Luca, Le Court ultimately proved to have the best legs. The woman from Mauritius claimed the victory. Fisher-Black took second place in Italy, just a week after winning a silver medal at the World Championships. The Dutch rider Kastelijn took a fine third place.