In the sixth stage of the Italian stage race, the riders were presented with three categorized climbs. Marianne Vos, who sprinted to second place yesterday, couldn't keep up the pace on the Beato Sante and failed to make it back. Nooijen, Reijnhout and Chladoňová managed to stay in the group of favorites and Nooijen showed herself to be alert.

In the final kilometers, five riders went clear, of which Paulina Rooijakkers and Liane Lippert proved to be the strongest. In the chasing group, Nooijen saw her chance to break away and aimed for a top five ranking. She succeeded. "I am very satisfied. Tactically, I rode a very good race," Nooijen said afterwards.

"I was attentive and felt well when to react. I managed to position myself well on the climbs. Moreover, the collaboration with Viktória and Rosita was excellent." According to the Dutch rider, the final kilometers were not easy. "On the steepest part of 14 percent I just couldn't keep up, but I kept fighting and returned to the group a little later. When I had made the connection, I thought: I'm going for it. That eventually earned me a nice fifth place."

After her fifth place in the opening time trial, Nooijen has once again secured a top-five ranking in the Giro. A nice boost for the youngster, who made her comeback at the NK Time Trial two weeks ago. "This result gives a lot of confidence that things are going in the right direction. I feel the top form is coming. I'm looking forward to the next few days."