Elisa Balsamo crossed the line in Brescello with her arms wide and a red jersey on her shoulders. On stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia Women, she won the bunch sprint ahead of Maggie Coles-Lyster and Georgia Baker of Liv AlUla Jayco . It was her fourth stage victory in six days, and her fourth win from four bunch sprints contested. The Italian has turned this Giro into a demonstration.
How the day was won
The flat run to Brescello did not stay simple for long. With 65 kilometres remaining, Uno-X Mobility pushed through Volta Mantovana and split the peloton in the crosswinds . Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini and Lara Gillespie were among those caught in the second group, with a third group forming further back . The high speed ended the early break, and the group with Vollering rejoined before Marlen Reusser and the others closed the last gap with 46.5 kilometres to go .
The finale carried its own risk. Giorgia Serena attacked alone with 22.5 kilometres left and briefly held a minute before being caught nine kilometres out, which set up the sprint . Then came the danger that has undone so many fast finishers this week. A crash in a tight turn 1.2 kilometres from the line stretched out the peloton, and Lucinda Brand piloted Balsamo through the technical run-in . Coles-Lyster opened her sprint 250 metres out through a slight right-hander, and Balsamo came off the Canadian's wheel with 150 metres to go to win .
Balsamo gave the credit elsewhere. "When you have the best lead-out in the world, it's just easy," she said. "With Lucinda, I don't have to fight for position. I just need to trust her. So this victory is more on her than on me, honestly." The plan, she explained, had been agreed on the team bus that morning: take the corner at 1.3 kilometres in front, stay safe, and manage from there.
A run without a flaw
This was not a sudden surge of form. Balsamo arrived here as a former world road champion and a rider forged on the track, and she has ridden the opening week with the calm of someone who expects to win. She had already speeded to a second win in a row in the maglia rosa on stage 2 , then powered to a hat-trick on stage 3 with a searing uphill sprint . The mountains handed the overall lead to Anna van der Breggen, yet the flat days have belonged to one rider alone.
Four sprints. Four wins. The race moves on, and Elisa Balsamo keeps answering the same question the same way.
