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Karlijn Swinkels beats Van der Breggen at Trofeo Alfredo Binda for breakthrough win

Karlijn Swinkels beats Van der Breggen at Trofeo Alfredo Binda for breakthrough win

Karlijn Swinkels won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda on Sunday afternoon. The Dutch rider from UAE Team ADQ beat Anna van der Breggen and Mie Ottestad in Cittiglio, riders with whom she had broken away just under twenty kilometers from the finish. For the 27-year-old Swinkels, it is her first victory at WorldTour level.

Despite the rise of the monuments in women’s cycling, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda remains one of the biggest races on the women’s calendar. This was evident on Sunday from the start list: although Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot were absent, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda managed to attract a very strong field including Marianne Vos, Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma, and Puck Pieterse.

The latter three tried during the 146-kilometer race to Cittiglio to prevent a sprint finish by attacking on the climbs of Orino (2.9 km at 4.6%) and Casale (0.9 km at 6.6%), both of which had to be climbed several times along the route.

Due to the bad weather, the organizers decided in the morning to remove the section between kilometer 25 and 39, but this ultimately had no impact on the race dynamics. In the opening phase, the peloton largely stayed together: only Hannah Ludwig was allowed to ride away briefly.

In the last forty kilometers, it became clear that the finale had truly begun. On the climb of Orino, only twenty riders remained. Some big names, including Marianne Vos and Cat Ferguson, were missing from this group, but they managed to rejoin at the front in the following kilometers.

Big names in the attack
So it was then a matter of waiting for new attacks. These came from Noemi Ruegg, Longo Borghini, and Niewiadoma, among others, but they all struggled to get away for good. On the penultimate climb of Orino, Celia Géry, Niewiadoma, Pieterse, and Longo Borghini briefly managed to open a small gap, but they were soon reeled back in.

On an intermediate section, Mie Ottestad, Eleonora Gasparrini, Karlijn Swinkels, Pfeiffer Georgi, Silvia Persico, and Anna van der Breggen succeeded in breaking away from the group of favorites. With fourteen kilometers to go – just before the final climb of Orino – the leading riders, with Gasparrini and Persico having dropped off by then, held almost a half-minute advantage.

Swinkels beats Van der Breggen and claims a monument win
The women up front wouldn’t give up that lead. On the last climb of Orino, Van der Breggen tried to escape, but she couldn’t shake off Swinkels. Ottestad and Pfeiffer had to drop back, although the Norwegian champion managed to rejoin in the final kilometers. So it came down to a three-rider sprint, which Swinkels won. For the 27-year-old Dutch rider, it’s her ninth professional victory but her first at WWT level.