Demi Vollering claimed victory on a shortened queen stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Saturday but admitted it was the “weirdest finish line of my life”.
A summit finish in Sestriere had been scheduled for the eighth and penultimate stage, but organisers reduced the route by 28 kilometres as an unstable slab of ice was threatening to fall on to the route.
Ice had already been cleared from an avalanche shortly before the riders passed through the Italian Alps.
Instead the line was hastily moved to one kilometre below the Colle delle Finestre, where Vollering, of FDJ United–Suez, prevailed in a four-way sprint finish.
The pre-race favourite edged out Isabella Holmgren, Antonia Niedermaier and fellow Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen to claim her second stage win of this year’s race.
“It was strange because the Finestre was suddenly the final climb,” said the 29-year-old Vollering. “It was the weirdest finish line of my life, but I’m very happy to take the win.”
Team SD Worx–Protime rider Van der Breggen retains the pink jersey for the final stage, over 145km around Saluzzo at the foot of the Alps, with Vollering having cut the four-time winner’s lead slightly to 49 seconds.
“We hoped that we could get closer to the maglia rosa today,” said Vollering. “Tomorrow’s stage is not as hard as today’s, but we will make a plan and think about how to try to win the Giro.”