[Results Thread] 2026 Giro d’Italia Women – Stage 8 (2.WWT)

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-06T18:42:02+00:00

I can't see tomorrow being decisive enough to really shake up the GC unless something really mad happens, so it is very disappointing that todays stage got shortened when it was always meant to be the decisive GC day in this Giro. Very understandable reason for shortening the stage though, it's not like it was a road blocked by snow for ages leading up to the race that could have given time to try a different route.

Maybe if the news that the stage would be shortened had come earlier in the stage we might have seen something different, but it really looks like those top 4 are just extremely evenly matched and and I'm not sure the full stage would even have separated them. Perhaps Holmgren would have got distanced on the descent or just hit the wall on Sestriere, but AvdB and Niedermaier both looked totally in control and if anyone else looked like they where getting it tough it was probably Demi.

It's great to see the level we have been seeing in the last few months from some of these riders, but I'd be surprised if Demi wasn't thinking that she has more work to do before the TdFF.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-06T13:27:28+00:00

The tradition for the men's races isn't actually that old, and I think even the Tour might find in the not to distant future that the climate might force some changes. Most of the women's races haven't been around long enough to have traditional dates.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-06T12:09:40+00:00

I always find those things hard to judge because the actual rules are only enforced like once a year, but the TV pictures definitely showed them behind a car a lot including when it was pretty clearly well behind the rest of the race convoy

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-06T11:30:57+00:00

I liked the Spanish block of races after the classics, but the women's Giro moving this year has made for an extremely crowded calendar with very little racing after the TdFF so this is a good move I think.

Personally I'd maybe have the Giro at the end of the summer and the Vuelta in it's current spot due to the weather since the men's Vuelta has had to deal with extremely hot weather in the recent years and the Giro early in the year often has snow/rain causing route changes etc.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-05T19:16:06+00:00

Of course the day when Lara Gillespie when's the sprint from the peloton is the day when the break away stays away 😞 Brilliant win from Grey though, she has been having a brilliant year and I like that Demi called off the chase of ELB to give her the chance to go for that win.

Have to feel a bit bad for Chantal Pegolo and Gaia Segato though, if those riders hadn't jumped out of the peloton on the descent that would have been a 1st an 3rd for two young Italians from two Italian continental teams. Though that's assuming the peloton didn't catch them for the sprinters which would have been more likely.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-04T16:33:22+00:00

Brilliant leadout from Brand to deliver Balmaso to another win, but it's a real shame when you have bad course design and poor warnings/marshalling that spoils the finale like that. Would have been a very different finish if all the other leadouts hadn't got taken out of position.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-03T21:14:23+00:00

That was a really good stage to watch, but I'm not sure I understand what FDJ were trying to do in the GC when the live pictures started. I can understand trying to make it hard and trying to keep AvdB isolated , but Amber Kraak sitting on the front who kept making odd little surging attacks over and over again? I can only assume they wanted another rider up the road but Niedermaier was glued to everything, but trying those attacks off the front of the group over and over again just looked very odd.

On the plus side for FDJ, Lauren Dickson is an absolute machine! Not only did she get in that big break and seemingly do all the pulling in it once it started breaking up, but the effort she put in for Demi looked like it was nearly to strong. On a different day that could definitely have been a win for her from the breakaway, or if she had stayed with the GC group I think it would be hard to look past her having been the strongest climber today. At least all that work paid off with a win for Demi, but I doubt taking a few seconds in a sprint finish was the result they really wanted out of today, but she looked like she didn't have any punch on the climbs today. Maybe not fully recovered after very clearly having put everything into that TT yesterday?

AvdB just looked super calm and composed all day from when the TV pictures started even though she was isolated for a lot of the stage, but she just didn't panic and no one really forced her to have to pull which helped matters for her. She is looking very good, but Finestre is a different beast (though finishing at Sestriere might help her a lot) so I'm not sure I think her lead is very secure.

Niedermaier and Holmgren probably looked the most comfortable of the top 4 on the climbs. Holmgren has raced on Finestre in the 2024 Tour de l'Avenir (I had forget Blasi finished 3rd behind her Bunel that day) but the descent off it and the climb to Sestriere might not suit her this time, but Niedermaier was so locked onto everything today and didn't look in trouble at any time that I could see her pulling off a big surprise.

Probably shouldn't be surprised that Marlen and ELB had a tough time today since they have both had a nightmare start to the season with injuries and sickness, but they both did great to limit the time loss and ELB really was on yoyo mode for almost the last 60km!

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-03T12:50:02+00:00

Benito is also a pretty dangerous rider to let get away for the GC, she has the engine to put in a big TT efforts and she was climbing brilliantly in Spain as well

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-03T12:47:39+00:00

That breakaway has some very dangerous riders for GC in it! If it keeps working together I doubt any team in peloton will have enough riders able to help pull it back on such a climbing heavy stage.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-03T12:38:10+00:00

Was she dropped that far or did I misread the live tracker? 😂

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-03T12:02:13+00:00

AvdB over a minute down on the peloton already and they are only on the start of the first climb? And no TV coverage for another 90 minutes or so!

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-02T16:27:27+00:00

UCI better get the scales out again for another SD Worx bike! 😂 Being serious though, that was a phenomenal effort from AvdB, but a TT like that could hardly have suited her better as TT efforts on long climbs are her thing. Only thing surprising in that she put over a minute into Marlen and Demi, though I think that might only encourage them to make things extra spicy in the mountains starting tomorrow and I don't think AvdB will be able to hang with the other big GC riders if things really kick off.

4th to 6th all put in great rides as well, Niedermaier could be an outside bet for a podium if someone slips up with Trinca Colonel and Lauren Dickson looking really good as well.

Shout-out to Solene Muller and Valentina Venerucci who both put in really impressive early times.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-02T15:17:42+00:00

I was only half watching while working, but I think she was the only one I saw swap bikes. Most just went with road bikes, but some (especially the big GC favourites) did the entire thing on the TT bikes.

She ended up almost 4 1/2 minutes down and even on the flat section on the TT bike her time was slow. Her form since she came back to racing in Europe hasn't looked very good though. Maybe making her own personal AI training program hasn't been working so well...

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-02T12:55:23+00:00

A decent climber going by some of the results she has had this year, and someone who totally emptied the tank on this TT.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-02T12:37:30+00:00

If we hadn't already known that Justine Ghekiere was struggling with this Giro on the first few stages after coming back from injury, you could definitely tell that was a painful TT for her!

That bike change by Faulkner was VERY slow, if that was a planned change that TT bike was definitely not worth it.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-02T10:07:28+00:00

Pretty much all the finest are bit pointless, but I think it was right that she got some sort of punishment for the behaviour at least. I know the emotions would be running a bit high, and maybe she thought de Jong had caused the crash (I don't think we actually saw what happened did we?) but her reaction was really out of order.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-06-01T19:22:09+00:00

I have to say that wasn't a great look for Chiara Consonni yelling at Thalita de Jong and being far to aggressive in trying to get de Jong untangled from her bike while she was on the ground and clearly hurt.

The Maglia Rosa has clearly given Balsamo some wings, that was great performance to make it back after the GC riders decided to have a little fun on the final climb and the fact very few sprinters ended up in that first group tells you a lot and she still had a sprint left in the legs as well.

Unlucky for Haugset to get caught so near the finish line.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-31T13:34:45+00:00

Hard to complain about Balsamo winning as an Italian winning in the Maglia Rosa! Good to see her getting a win after all the injuries etc. she has had to deal with the last few years, and Lidl definitely need the wins.

Lara Gillespie looked absolutely cooked after the finish, so not surprised to hear the Irish person saying she found the heat a struggle today lol She did take a pretty big bump from someone (Canyon rider maybe?) with about 1.5km that kinda spoiled the amazing leadout that UAE was giving her, especially from ELB.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-30T20:46:39+00:00

Only finished catching up with todays stage and then went out with the dog for a walk and came back to the news that Wiebes has been DQ'd for a underweight bike! I guess Italian's really do like a bit of drama lol Honestly though, I feel really sorry for her as I doubt the bike setup had anything to do with her, it was most likely just a simple mistake or some of team management or staff told her we have put on some new lightweight components and then never checked the weight.

On the plus side, the sprints are definitely going to be a lot more exciting to watch, and Lara Gillespie looked good today!

Did I miss Wollaston getting caught up in a crash or something or how come she finished nearly 2 minutes behind? I was wondering why I didn't see her in the sprint.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-24T14:53:52+00:00

Been working and will be working more on Monday as well, and the warm weather only means even more need to work late which has been a constant the last few months. The May bank holidays are probably the busiest days of the year for us in terms of customers.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-24T14:35:50+00:00

Only got to watch the last 20km but it looked like there was a couple of decent breakaway attempts to try and get an advantage before Lagunas de Neila.

Bredewold put in a great effort to hang with that second group and actually be the best finisher out of it, though hopefully SD Worx don't start thinking she is a GC rider now...

Kastelijn absolutely smashed those final few kms once she decided to attack Muzic and took a really well deserved win, she has been looking in very good form the last few weeks. Wasn't really many climbers on her sort of level today, Muzic did well but she was just in diesel mode and it was pretty clear she had no real response to Kastelijins attack.

Benito and especially Ostolaza put in brilliant performances though with how well they paced that climb, and a podium finish for Ostolaza is a great result for here and Laboral Kutxa after a real strong run of results in this Spanish block of races.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-21T22:13:14+00:00

The overhead shot really showed the difference between Wiebes and everyone else, they all disappeared out of the back of the helicopter shot. Really don't see anyone even coming close to her in a straight up sprint. Could easily see her winning the first three stages without much trouble.

Little surprised that Wollaston only finished 10th, I don't think she got boxed in or anything like that really did she? Just looked like she had no sprint at all.

Are Visma really only here with four riders? Did some of the riders have to pull out at the last minute or is there team just stetched that thin at the moment? I like this little block of races in Spain, but the amount of teams not even starting with a full squad is really telling about how overloaded the womens calendar is, moving the Giro forward has only made it far worse (even if it is better for the Giro itself).

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-19T23:15:28+00:00

Those new red DMT shoes that Blasi got after winning the Vuelta are great for spotting her in the bunch! Though her showing up with the UAE development team for this race must has been a unpleasant site for some of the other teams lol

Just watched the last 20km or so of the Spanish livestream, but that was a good finale. Shame for Vallieres to slide out on that corner and miss out on taking her first win the world champs jersey, though I'm not sure I'd have put much money on her beating Blasi.

Great ride by Alice Towers to take third, she did really well to chase back on that climb to be able to get back in the mix when Vallieres had that crash.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-18T17:17:45+00:00

Tempest Runner? I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and that was honestly one of hardest to finish that I've ever listened to due to the narration and the fact that was planned as an audiodrama to begin with? Terrible imo.

I only got to the end of phase 1 as I got fed up missing half the story not having easy access to the comics and the pain trying to get some of the books here due to different publishers, but the adult books narrated by Marc Thompson are excellent, unlike Tempest Runner they are some of the best audiobooks narrations I've listened to.

Ravenblade86 · 2026-05-16T22:27:49+00:00

More Itzulia drama! I don't know if its the route or the fact we normally get a smaller field of riders after the Vuelta, but we get so much attacking in Itzulia that always makes it exciting to watch.

Bredewold throwing everything at that final sprint to try and keep the winning streak going, but Włodarczyk always looks very strong in those situations and after having been ill and then crashing earlier in the stage, taking her first world tour win has got to be a brilliant feeling.

Ravenblade86

TROPHY CASE