{"id":613612,"date":"2026-05-31T12:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613612\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T12:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:02:22","slug":"giro-ditalia-women-stage-2-live-a-breakaway-of-three-had-more-than-six-minutes-but-the-bunch-is-closing-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613612\/","title":{"rendered":"Giro d’Italia Women stage 2 LIVE: A breakaway of three had more than six minutes but the bunch is closing in"},"content":{"rendered":"

Refresh <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:59:23.355Z<\/p>\n

It’s almost completely pan flat from here until the line now. The finish in Caorle is on the coast, so one or two metres above sea level.
There’ll be a cross head wind as the race approaches the cost, which turns to cross tail as they run along the beach inside the final 4km.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:53:09.659Z<\/p>\n

The race has entered a period of calm before the storm.
The peloton are holding the three woman breakaway at around the two minute mark.<\/p>\n

50km to go<\/p>\n

\n

\"The\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:43:10.556Z<\/p>\n

Of the breakaway riders are well down on the general classification time, but Elisa De Vallier (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) started the day only 10 seconds down.
That makes her the virtual general classification leader, though it is very unlikely the breakaway will win the stage later today.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:37:29.488Z<\/p>\n

The breakaway’s advantage has settled around 2.20.
They’re riding into a 7km\/h headwind with the temperature around 28\u00ba for now. There is an increasing chance of rain as the stage goes on.<\/p>\n

60km to go <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:30:49.000Z<\/p>\n

That gap is well and truly back out now, suggesting the peloton raced hard for the climb.<\/p>\n

La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon lead by 2.20.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:23:29.818Z<\/p>\n

La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon now lead by 1.40.
It would have been unusual for the peloton to catch them with so far to go, it’s not like yesterday’s stage with 50km on a closing circuit, the race is straight into the finish town.
Expect the break to left hanging for some time yet.<\/p>\n

70km to go <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:20:15.616Z<\/p>\n

The gap has increased slightly again, the three leaders now have 1.13 over the bunch.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Eleonora\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:14:35.678Z<\/p>\n

The lead for La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon is now below one minute for the first time.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:12:09.718Z<\/p>\n

We’ve had a few lumpy hills since the top of the main climb, but the front of the race is over them now. The route takes them nothing east for a little while, before taking a right turn on the edge of Vittorio Veneto.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:09:04.058Z<\/p>\n

Eleonora La Bella (AromItalia Vaiano), Elisa de Vallier (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo), Sara Luccon (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) are under pressure now, the peloton is only 1.10 behind.<\/p>\n

80km to go <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:08:03.335Z<\/p>\n

After the climb we drop down to Vittorio Veneto. The town hosted the start of stage 8 of the 2019 race.
That day Lizzy Banks won with a 10km solo in the pouring rain.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Elizabeth\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:05:39.641Z<\/p>\n

Ignore that last post. La Bella won the climb and will be awarded the maglia azzura of the mountains classification leader.
While Hashimi, Serena and Nelson have been caught by the peloton, they are now less than twow minutes behind the leaders.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T11:01:53.474Z<\/p>\n

At the front of the race De Vallier has been dropped while further back Hashimi, Serena and Nelson have been caught by the peloton.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:57:11.824Z<\/p>\n

Over the top of the climb and La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon have a gap of almost four minutes on Hashimi, Serena and Nelson with the peloton breathing right down their necks.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:49:32.294Z<\/p>\n

La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon lead Hashimi, Serena and Nelson by 2.28 with the peloton at 5.48.
The leaders are going uphill now.<\/p>\n

90km to go <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:47:11.864Z<\/p>\n

We’ll be on the climb very soon indeed, and, as predicted the peloton have taken time out of the leaders, it’s only 5.48 now.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:40:03.690Z<\/p>\n

Though the climb is still a few kilometres up the road, the’ve been dragging uphill on a false flat for some time now. There’s a slight tail wind, though that’ll be a headwind when they turn south later in the day.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:37:51.555Z<\/p>\n

There’s no substantive change in the race situation.
Eleonora La Bella (AromItalia Vaiano), Elisa de Vallier (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo), Sara Luccon (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) lead by 6.25.
Fariba Hashimi (Vini Fantini-BePink), Girogia Serena (Medelspeck-E Work) and Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL) are in the gap 2.43 beind the leaders.<\/p>\n

100km to go<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:33:16.309Z<\/p>\n

The next obstacle of the day is the climb of the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio. It’s a tough one, short but sharp it’s one kilometre at an average gradient of 11.5%.
The top is 89.1km from the finish, and we can expect the breakaway’s lead to drop a litttle once the pelton are over it.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:28:42.195Z<\/p>\n

Sara Luccon (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) won the day’s intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:24:53.601Z<\/p>\n

It’s a fast old day out there, the average speed is 42.9km\/h.
La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon lead Hashimi, Serena and Nelson by 2.06 and the peloton by 6.28.<\/p>\n

110km to go <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:20:12.114Z<\/p>\n

As stage one was, today’s stage might be flat, but there are challenges in the mountains coming up.
From a mountain time trial to the first visit to an iconic climb<\/a> \u2013 Analysing the key stages of the Giro d’Italia Women.<\/p>\n

\n

\"CHIETI,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:15:13.321Z<\/p>\n

Either the timing is out or Hashimi, Serena and Nelson are losing ground again, their deficit is back out to 1.45.
With such a huge lead over the pelton, there is a case for the leaders easing off a little and allowing the chasing group to catch them, with six at the front they might have a chance.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:08:58.767Z<\/p>\n

This gap really is a huge one.
Eleonora La Bella (AromItalia Vaiano), Elisa de Vallier (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) and Sara Luccon (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) lead the pelton by six minutes, with Fariba Hashimi (Vini Fantini-BePink), Girogia Serena (Medelspeck-E Work) and Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL) at 1.18.<\/p>\n

120km to go<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:04:08.220Z<\/p>\n

Before we head for the hill, there’s an intermediate sprint coming up first.
It’s on a straight piece of road with 110km to go in the village of Cimadolmo.
Thankfully there are no roundabouts to put it on like yesterday’s sprint.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T10:01:12.514Z<\/p>\n

The leaders’ advantage is now almost five minutes on the peloton, while the chasing trio remain around 1.25 behind.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:55:05.396Z<\/p>\n

The peloton seem happy with the two breakaways up the road.
They’ve allowed La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon a lead of 4.10, while Hashimi, Serena and Nelson are 1.27 behind the leaders and losing ground very slightly.<\/p>\n

130km to go<\/p>\n

\n

\"The\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:41:41.216Z<\/p>\n

The leaders have raced 16km.
La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon lead the peloton by 1.25.<\/p>\n

Hashimi and Serena have been caught by Nelson and they trail the leaders by 42 seconds. Nelson has a big engine and could well help them get to the front.<\/p>\n

140km to go <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:35:55.344Z<\/p>\n

As it stands La Bella, De Vallier, Luccon lead Hashimi and Serena by 42 seconds, with Nelson at 1.05 and the peloton at 1.25.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:33:05.913Z<\/p>\n

And another chaser is in on the action now, Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL) is just behind Hashimi and Serena.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:30:28.262Z<\/p>\n

There’s a pair of chasers though, Afghan champion, Fariba Hashimi (Vini Fantini-BePink) and Girogia Serena (Medelspeck-E Work) are bang in the middle of the gap.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:28:42.062Z<\/p>\n

After a frantic start we have three riders up the road.
Eleonora La Bella (AromItalia Vaiano) and the Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo pair of Elisa de Vallier and Sara Luccon are one minute head of the peloton.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:21:04.608Z<\/p>\n

If you’ve heard of today’s climb, the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio that’s because it’s featured in the Giro before.
In the 2017 race Hannah Barnes sprinted to victory in San Vendemiano, after climbing it.<\/p>\n

And if you followed the men’s Giro it was raced last Thursday.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"The\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:17:20.657Z<\/p>\n

We’re off for stage 2. We’ve got 156km from Roncade to Caorle.<\/p>\n

The Official Start <\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:11:30.840Z<\/p>\n

For today’s stage the route takes the peloton north into the very edge of the Venetian Alps for the day’s only climb. That won’t affect the race much though, as we then drop south all the way back to the coast, to Caorle, east of Venice.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T09:03:27.705Z<\/p>\n

We’re rolling. Today’s neutralised zone is a long one, at 10km. It’s another warm one today, with 29\u00ba forecast later in the day and once again, the chance of thunder storms.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T08:50:26.994Z<\/p>\n

Rolling out at 10:55CET we have 156km on the cards today, starting in Roncade, just east of Treviso before finishing in Caorle. And we’ll see the first classified climb of the race the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T08:47:54.853Z<\/p>\n

The peloton had a late finish last night after a long transfer as we head north, the other side of Venice for another day that could well be a bunch sprint finish.<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T08:46:14.531Z<\/p>\n

As for Lorena Wiebes, her SD Worx-Protime team are “astonished.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"CESENATICO,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T08:45:20.325Z<\/p>\n

Lidl-Trek’s Italian sprinter will now start the race in the leader’s maglia rosa.<\/p>\n

“It’s not the way I want to win,” she said.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Elisa\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

2026-05-31T08:38:52.608Z<\/p>\n

Well, it wasn’t just the racing which created the drama for yesterday’s stage.<\/p>\n

Elisa Balsamo was declared the winner after Lorena Wiebes was ejected from the race. <\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Elisa\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)
\n<\/p>\n

Good morning, we’re back for stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia, stay with us all day for live updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Refresh 2026-05-31T11:59:23.355Z It’s almost completely pan flat from here until the line now. The finish in Caorle is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-613612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}