Emma Pooley wins in the mountains! Giro Donne Stage 8
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 10:02 AM EDT
in Women's Cycling
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After yesterday's stage climbed the Mortirolo and gave us a master-class in descending steep, twisting roads, today's stage was shorter - with a serrated profile, adding lots of smaller climbs to the over 1,000m climb in 70km. Monty's preview has the profiles - and there's still 1 more mountain stage to go! Diadora's Amber Pierce gives a fantastic race-description-in-140-characters:
Congrats Emma on the W today. Helluva stage. Tunnels, climbs, crazy narrow roads, endless switchbacks, views, rain, mud. Epic.
Here's the finish-line video from Cicloweb - and check out Monty's fantastic stage-recap-in-screenshots in the comments - we'll add other videos and anything we find to the comments as well, so check back!
If you want to watch today's full video, it's here - although I've already given away the ending!
Today's stage was meant to start with a descent, but it was taken out as too dangerous, so the racing didn't start until about km 7. From the start, riders were dropping off the back - they've had some super-hard racing, I don't blame them! And yet again there was attacking from the start - with groups forming and re-forming. The race started in the sunshine, with more of those scary-looking unlit tunnels, and some truly spectacular scenery. There are some more great photos by CJ Farquharson from the stage on Cyclingnews.
There was an early escape attempt from former Australian national champion Ruth Corset (Bizkaia Durango) and super-blogger Amanda Miller (HTC Highroad) who spent a long time out together, making it very nearly to the top of the mountain. Garmin-Cervélo were involved with the chase, with Italian road and ITT Champion Noemi Cantele active on the front. She was leading a small group with all the big GC contenders leading the chase, with Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervélo) spending a lot of time on the front - but pretty soon it was back to a familiar sight - up ahead, Pooley and Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) as, for the third time this race, they lit up the race.
If someone had told me last year that the mountain duels in this year's Giro Donne would be between Pooley and Vos, I would never have believed them. Pooley, yes - she's a renowned climber, but before this year, you wouldn't expect to see Vos at the front in the mountains. But this year, Vos is targeting the Giro - she's changed her body shape and has been not just keeping up with Pooley, but attacking her too. They have very different riding styles - and the descents will be helping Vos - it's been such an exciting battle!
As the mountains went up, the weather changed from sunny, to cloudy, to rain. Up ahead, Ruth Corset went over the final GPM (Mountains competition point) first - and shortly after attacked, dropping Miller, who was was caught shortly afterwards - as soon as she was, she waited to help Judith Arndt, who was on the front of the chasing group with Tatiana Guderzo (MCipollini Giambenini), Tatiana Antoshina (Gauss) and Mara Abbott (Diadora Pasta Zara). Then Corset was caught, but she was able to stay with Vos and Pooley for a while somehow, and the three riders crossed the 10km to go point together, but with Pooley putting on the pressure, even Corset couldn't keep up.
By now it was nasty weather, wind and rain, and the final kilometres were on the "strade bianche" that turns to gritty mud when wet. Pooley had been on the front pretty much all throughout the climb, and it was a battle right to the line - with Pooley trying to get away, and Vos hanging on for dear life - but this time Pooley took the win, both riders looking exhausted as they crossed the line. Vos finished with the same time, and is still in the maglia rosa.
Behind Vos and Pooley, Corset came in 3rd, in what was a superb day's riding. In the fight for GC placings, there had been attacks from Abbott in the group-of-four up the mountain, but she couldn't sustain the pace, dropping off the back of the group at some point. Judith Arndt was a powerhouse, riding away from the rest on the gravel roads, and gaining more time on her closest rival, Tatiana Guderzo. Arndt holds onto 3rd place by 13 seconds - and as an excellent time triallist, will be doing everything in her power to move up tomorrow on the final climbs.
1. Emma Pooley (GBr) Garmin-Cervélo, 02:25:45
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, s.t.
3. Ruth Corset (Aus) Bizkaia Durango, + 01:29
4. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Highroad, + 02:39
5. Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) Gauss, + 02:49
6. Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) MCipollini Giambenini, s.t.
7. Mara Abbott (USA) Diadora Pasta Zara, + 03:16
8. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products UCK, + 04:12
9. Shara Gillow (Aus) Bizkaia Durango, s.t.
10. Elena Berlato (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo, + 04:16
General classification after Stage 8
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, 22:08:15
2. Emma Pooley (GBr) Garmin-Cervélo, + 02:32
3. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Highroad, + 07:39
4. Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) MCipollini Giambenini, + 07:46
5. Sylwia Kapusta (Pol) Gauss, + 10:07
6. Ruth Corset (Aus) Bizkaia Durango, + 10:41
7. Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) Gauss, + 11:01
8. Shara Gillow (Aus) Bizkaia Durango, + 12:27
9. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec Products UCK, + 12:41
10. Mara Abbott (USA) Diadora Pasta Zara, + 13:04
Marianne Vos keeps the points jersey, but Pooley has taken the mountains jersey from her. Elena Berlato, from Top Girls Fassa Bortolo, keeps the white jersey of best young rider. Judith Arndt increased her lead for 3rd place on Tatiana Guderzo - but Guderzo keeps the blue jersey of Best Italian.
After the stage, the riders had a 5-hour, 320km transfer for tomorrow's stage - more mountains, and then the final ITT on Sunday. Spare a thought for the poor riders, it'll be past eight before they get to wash off the day's mud - imagine how they look, from Tiffany Cromwell's tweet!
Who needs a facial when you can get covered in mud in the last 2kms on wet gravel roads, a dirty end to a tough stage, Pooley took the win.
Emma Pooley is a super-talented rider, combining serious climbing skills with an awesome ITT ability, which the rainbow stripes of World Champion and the silver medal from the Beijing Olympics prove. She's known for killer breakaways, and for fantastic post-race quotes, all self-deprecating humour. She came late to cycling - she was a cross-country runner before moving to cycling after injuries stopped her running. She's also a very intelligent woman - she did her degree at Cambridge, and in the off-season is doing a PhD in geotechnical engineering (she explains all about it in this great interview in Bicycling) - and did I mention she gives fantastic interviews? Here's her interviewed by Gavia last year - and here's one in Velonation from March. What else? She bakes brownies for her team-mates, speaks about 4 languages fluently.... She just keeps getting better and better on the bike - it's a shame we don't have more races for the climbers, so we can see her in action, and even with time out from breaking her collarbone in training, she's having a fantastic year, winning the first World Cup race with one of her crazed escapes. She's so easy to fangirl about!
Ruth Corset, who finished in third place, is someone you don't see much of in the European races - she has two little daughters back in Australia, so she's been coming over with the Australian National Team (and last year with Tibco) for trips to Europe, and always is one to watch out for. It always seems much easier for the men to balance family life with cycling, so I have a huge admiration for the women with children who race. We nearly didn't see Corset at the Giro this year - so many UCI-registered teams wanted to ride the Giro that there was no room for national teams. Luckily for fans of the Aussies, Bizkaia-Durango quickly signed up some of the riders - and with a stage win by Shara Gillow and now Corset on the podium, they must be congratulating themselves!
Amanda Miller joined HTC-Highroad this year - last year she rode the Giro for Tibco, but she crashed on the Stelvio stage and couldn't finish the race. She has a lovely "how I got into cycling piece" on her website, and she's the kind of rider we love around here, with a blog and a twitter account. Plus before the race, she took some time to tell us what she was looking forward to in the race. She's a super-friendly rider - I met her at the Luxembourg races, and she gave me a little video interview... what IS it like to be described as the future of American cycling?!
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Top-10
1 Emma Pooley Gran Bretagna Garmin – Cervélo [Donne] in 2h25’45"
2 Marianne Vos Olanda Nederland Bloeit [Donne] st
3 Ruth Corset Australia Bizkaia – Durango [Donne] a 1’29"
4 Judith Arndt Germania HTC Highroad Women [Donne] a 2’39"
5 Tatiana Antoshina Russia Gauss [Donne] a 2’49"
6 Tatiana Guderzo Italia MCipollini – Giambenini [Donne] a 2’49"
7 Mara Abbott Usa Diadora – Pasta Zara [Donne] a 3’16"
8 Emma Johansson Svezia Hitec Products – UCK [Donne] a 4’12"
9 Shara Gillow Australia Bizkaia – Durango [Donne] a 4’12"
10 Elena Berlato Italia Top Girls Fassa Bortolo [Donne] a 4’16"
"st" … Pooley won the sprint from Vos??!
The cannibal has gone vegetarian.
"On paper, your team is awesome." -- Pigeons on my WVDS team, and life in general.
I was about to make cannibal comments when she went for the KOM yesterday
but it seemed silly since it was in fact a real attack.
Uphill finish?
Or she’s killing herself just keeping up?
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Watching the Rai highlights
Emma Pooley looks to have done all the work, with Vos marking her throughout. Obvy, they aren’t showing the whole thing, but I haven’t seen Vos come around to contribute once. Since she sat on, no reason to contest the sprint there.
Nice riding from Amanda Miller in the break today, too.
GC results are up! Editing them in now
Arndt has moved up to 3rd – it’ll be a great battle for that 3rd place
I wondered, too
Maybe loads of extra points for today’s mountain top finish?
"On paper, your team is awesome." -- Pigeons on my WVDS team, and life in general.
They used to count for double in the Tour
if the finish was on a mountain top. Not sure about here though.
Have you noticed that the green jersey fits her?
Wonder if they had one ready in her size, just in case? ;-)
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions
So Vos is starting to gift stages as well?
Never mind my team will take the win today regardless. Congrats Pooley, also with GC 2nd.
i have both
this is the best vds race for me evah! I think i even have corset – swept the podium today
Not sure that was a gift
Just saw the finish. Pooley was driving it hard, not sure Vos had the legs to come around, honestly. But also: Pooley did the work all day. it would have been poor form for Vos to sprint that one, in my view. In a two-up like that, when Vos is getting an advantage because Pooley is pulling them both away from the rest of the field? Gah, sprinting would be sorta punkish.
oooh, where did you see it, Gav?
Vos seems to have been working so hard just to stay with Pooley – would be amazed if she COULD sprint after a stage like this!
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
She is a punk, though
A real bad seed. You can tell from looking at her, the angry face, the mean demeanor. Pure evil.
VDS Results
In the GiroDonne competition the top 10 looks like this:
1 Mostly Guesses noah 1010
2 Team Stybarova p/b Becherovka Albertina 1000
3 So Many Choices, Not Enough Budget ykgday 970
4 Fatboy Fillies Adelaidefatboy 940
5 Im going to get more points than stef helenwyman 920
6 Top Girls presented by Jetsebol.nl Jetse B 920
7 MOC Cervelo mocgator 920
8 """Yong,Elegant and Lethal"" holmovka 900
9 Top heavy women… ’s team EdredonBrowny 895
10 Unencumbered By Knowledge AbdujaparovFan 895
So by the end of this race
Marianne Vos will crack the 5000 points barrier.
I was convinced her track season would stop the points grab
and thought she’d take stage 3, but really underestimated her in the GC. Unlike you, Monty – and people (me!) laughed when you tipped her for the win!
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Today could have been summed up with one photo, but I'll try and fill a bit more space by rambling
Evie Stevens lives to fight another day
Yee-Hah?? Fortunately we didn’t get to hear what they were dancing to. Doubtless something like Bob the Builder’s greatest hits.Or the Birdie Song. Just to send Marijn off in the right mood.
One of quite a few dark tunnels. At the start they brought respite from the sun, at the end from the rain.
Ruth Corset and Amanda Miller were the early break. Personally I was hoping for an Amanda Miller and Ally Stacher one so I might learn to tell them apart.
The main bunch was down to half a dozen or so when they hit Le Motte. We didn’t get to see who did the work to shake everyone else off, but here’s Noemi Cantele finishing it off
And then there were two.
Up ahead Miller and Corset went on together right until a couple of hundred metres before the GPM point, when Corset finally got a bit of a gap.
Behind there were two
Through the middle of a particularly narrow village they caught Amanda Miller and were briefly three
But soon they were two again. You get the picture?
Ruth Corset held out in front for quite a long way up the final climb
While Amanda Miller dropped back to help out Judith Arndt who was some two minutes back in a small group with Mara Abbott, Tatiana Guderzo and Tatiana Antoshina.
Up ahead. Well, you get the picture
Emma P couldn’t even get away with the help of a couple of very dark tunnels near the end
Oh, isn't Ally Stacher very tall?
The HTC who looks like her knees hit her elbows when she rides? And Amanda has more hair! Maybe I’ll ask Amanda on twitter!
Seems like Garvélo have the same exceptional tactics as last year!
Thanks so much for the recap!
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I asked Amanda on twitter, she replied
I normally wear the black split jacket Oakleys. And @stacherchick has really long legs and wears a lucky head band :)
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions
black split jacket Oakleys
That’s one of those phrases like "Sailor Moon cos play " in which I understand all the individual words, but collectively they mean absolutely nothing.
Somehow,
I think you are more familiar with the latter phrase. NTTAWWT. (I guess. I’d have to look up both.)
"On paper, your team is awesome." -- Pigeons on my WVDS team, and life in general.
Just had to look up that one too
If there was any way to do the internet with a fountain pen then I’d be doing it that way. OK probably more like with an IKEA pencil, but the sentiment’s there.
Sadly, I know what Sailor Moon cosplay is
I’ve even seen it in real life! Helping my mate sell his wares at the Bristol Comic Convention taught me SO much (if you have someone in your life who loves tea, you can find them great presents at The Island Of Doctor Geof)
by Sarah Connolly on Jul 8, 2011 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions
The final km was on a gravel road. Of course you can’t have a Giro plus gravel roads without rain. And remember for those girls who don’t have a team bus with its own shower, that also means a 320km transfer sitting in the back of the team car caked in the stuff. At least AA Drink have the bus. And a fridge full of yoghurt.
Emma Pooley may have got the hang of descending, but now she needs to work on her victory salute.
A friendly hug afterwards. I think that’s the first time all day that Vos was in front
Judith Arndt models that gravel-caked calves look. It’s all the rage right now in some places. The commentators were more than a little disappointed to see that she had got away from Tatiana Guderzo.
Here’s the next group arriving. Thanks to Ash Moolman for bringing this week’s ticker team with her. The updates from ashleighcycling and RoyGershow are much appreciated.
Tatiana Guderzo modelling the blue jersey for Best Italian, as sponsored by stay manzo. I wonder how many iterations of design that went through before they found one that was acceptable to the organisers.
They've got an interview with Guderzo too
on their report. Amd if you want to show your appreciation for the work they’ve been doing this week then go over there and click on an advert or two.
The organisers are looking forward to the final stage
here’s a little video all about the ITT
and here’s part 2 of the Bike Show tv Giro Donne Special
It's funny, in real life, Marianne Vos is tiny
really slim and slight, but you’d never know that from the images of her riding next to Pooley!
Vicki Whitelaw blog on Stage 8
here. I liked
We caught the remnants of the front group on the final climb with 8km to go and finished as a group of about 15. The weather turned quite mucky near the top and the last 2km were strade bianche [literally ‘white roads’ in Italian, called this because of the colour of the dust on them] so we finished nice and muddy. Nice work for the mechanics this evening! It then proceeded to pour down. Maybe we should just have left our bikes in the rain!?
After the finish we jumped in cars, trying to change in all sorts of small, cramped spaces and shovelled down food trying to get organised for a lengthy transfer.
All teams are staying together in this final hotel and I’m happy to say we get to stop here for 2 nights. Hooray!!
Amanda Miller blogged on Stage 8
I liked it a lot – and her description of how her race went:
Remember, today’s stage was all uphill. At around 25km into the race, Ruth Corset attacked and had a small gap. I bridged up to her, and we got a gap. I worked with her initially and we established a good gap. The time gaps hovered around 1minute 30seconds.
Once the gap was big enough, team cars were allowed to come up. This is when I received word to sit on. I knew it was coming. Ruth was high in the G.C. and close in time with Judith. We are riding for Judith, so it didn’t make sense for me to drill the break. That being said, it was hard enough sitting on Ruth’s wheel. She’s a climbing machine. The kilometers ticked away, slowly. On the mid-race GPM, Ruth set a brutal pace up the short, steep section of the climb. I came off her wheel, but was able to catch back on on the short descent. We started the final consistent climb, which was about 15km. I held onto Ruth’s wheel as long as I could, but I wasn’t able to last much longer. She slowly pulled away from me.
At that point, there was a time gap of 26seconds to riders behind us. It was Vos and Pooley. They came by me. I tried to stay on their wheels for a bit, but couldn’t hold the pace. I caught them again on the short downhill section and stuck with them for a minute or two on the climb. Then Pooley accelerated and left me in the dust, Vos on her wheel. From there, I sat up. I figured Judith was coming in the next group, and needed to be as fresh as possible to help her out. They caught me with around 6km to go. I set pace for Judith for the next couple of km’s before getting dropped when Mara accelerated on the climb.
Some photo fun
Annemiek van Vleuten’s pic of the final part of the stage
Iris Slappendel’s fabulous pic of herself? It’s hard to tell under all that mud – at the end of stage 8 – and I like the argyle-patterned tape around the knee – nice touch!
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