Team Sunweb have won the opening stage of the Giro Rosa (2.WWT), a 16-kilometre team time trial in Verbania, Italy. Mitchelton – Scott finished in second place with Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team in third.
All seven riders crossed the line with a time of 18 minutes and 24 seconds at an average speed of 50.5kph, with the world champions in the discipline winning the stage by one second. With Ellen van Dijk crossing the line first for the team, she wears the first Maglia Rosa of the race going into stage two tomorrow.
Van Dijk said: “What a great start to this Giro Rosa! We came into this TTT well prepared and everybody did a great job on this fast course. We knew we had to go very fast from the start and we had a clear plan for the race.
“As always, we used each others strength in the best possible way and we executed the plan almost to perfection. It’s great to win this stage together as a team. The spirit is super high as we couldn’t start this Giro in a better way!”
Team Sunweb coach Hans Timmermans added: “Today we saw amazing team work from everyone. Normally a TTT is already teamwork at it’s best but today was even more because all seven girls did their job and did it in a excellent way until the finish. Ellen taking the jersey is great, and to have Liane in the young jersey is great too. We’re really motivated to continue this momentum into the remainder of the race.”
The race continues tomorrow with a 120-kilometre stage starting and finishing in Ovada.
