Cyclingflash
Giro Women 2026: incredible Anna van der Breggen seizes control in tough Nevegal climb time trial

Giro Women 2026: incredible Anna van der Breggen seizes control in tough Nevegal climb time trial

On Tuesday, Anna van der Breggen possibly delivered the best climbing performance of her already long career. The SD Worx-Protime rider smashed the time set by world champion Marlen Reusser in the climb time trial to the top of Nevegal and is the new leader of the Giro Women. Demi Vollering finished in third place, 1 minute and 10 seconds behind.

The fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia was expected to create the first real gaps in the general classification. Although on Monday’s ascent of Montenars we already saw that Demi Vollering, Anna van der Breggen, Marlen Reusser, Elisa Longo Borghini, and Femke de Vries are among the top riders in this race, everything came together at the finish of the third stage. On Tuesday, it was anticipated that minutes would be lost or gained on Nevegal, a climb of 7.5 kilometers with an average gradient of no less than 8.4 percent.

Early afternoon saw Ilaria Marinetto roll off the start ramp as the first rider, followed in the first hours by riders placed lower in the GC. The first benchmark time of the day came almost two hours after Marinetto started her time trial from Valentina Venerucci, who recorded a time of 35:29 and got to sit briefly in the hot seat, especially since riders like Justine Ghekiere couldn’t match the San Marinese’s time.

Zigart in the hot seat briefly until world champion Reusser reaches top of Nevegal
Slowly but surely, we started to prepare for the GC contenders. Venerucci’s time was regularly broken approaching the finale of the time trial. First, surprise rider Solène Muller took over, but when Marlen Reusser rolled off the start ramp at 15:02, the top times at the summit of Nevegal started to tumble quickly. Urska Zigart took the hot seat momentarily and saw contenders like Lore De Schepper and Isabella Holmgren nearing her time, but the Slovenian soon had to give up the spot to world champion Reusser, who posted a 32:42 at the top.

After Reusser, 26 more GC riders had to finish, including Vollering, Van der Breggen, and Longo Borghini. Before they arrived, Antonia Niedermaier (+22 seconds), Monica Trinca Colonel (+27 seconds), and De Vries (+35 seconds) limited the damage.

Van der Breggen flies and puts Vollering and Reusser more than a minute behind
After De Vries, it was top favorite Vollering’s turn to set a time. On the way, the European road champion recorded a fifth intermediate time, but that was before the climb started. At the top of Nevegal, Vollering had moved up to second place but was still six seconds behind Reusser.

Did this mean a double win for Reusser? No. Van der Breggen was flying on Tuesday and already had over half a minute lead on Reusser and Vollering at the first checkpoint. At the finish line, the blue mountains jersey wearer crushed everyone by finishing more than a minute under Reusser’s time. Van der Breggen achieved a significant double victory since Longo Borghini later had to concede a minute and a half.