In the second edition of the Italian spring classic, a breakaway group of nine riders took the lead. Meanwhile, the yellow-and-black squad stayed attentive near the front of the peloton, waiting for the decisive finale featuring the climbs of the Cipressa and the Poggio.

On the Cipressa, De Vries and Nooijen animated the race with aggressive riding, causing the peloton to split. In the final kilometer of the climb, Nooijen attacked again, opening up a significant gap on the chasing group, where a heavy crash occurred during the descent.

Nooijen gave it her all, but her attack on the Poggio ultimately fell just short. On the final climb, De Vries positioned herself at the front but was unable to make the difference. Kopecky eventually won the sprint from a small group.

“I felt this was the moment,” Nooijen reflected on her attack. “With my move, I tried to make the race hard for Femke and Sarah. It was a good attempt, but unfortunately we missed Marianne in the finale. Still, I’m satisfied with today, and as a team we rode a strong race.”

Race coach Jan Boven also looked back positively on the team’s performance: “The plan was to make the race on the Cipressa. A big compliment to the riders for how they executed that. Lieke launched a strong attack, but unfortunately Margaux and Sarah were involved in the heavy crash. Fortunately, they are both okay. I look back on today with a good feeling.”