At kilometre 52.2 the riders reach the crest of a 3.4 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 6.5%. Before and after that hill the route is flat to rolling, so one would expect the race to come down to a bunch sprint.
Three races in last year’s Giro Rosa ended with a bunch sprint. Hannah Barnes, Jolien D’Hoore and Lotta Lepistö all took one victory. Yet, if you compare all sprint results Lepistö was the best fast finisher as she ended three times on top 3. Furthermore, at the end of a hilly stage she powered to second place in a sprint of a large group (Marta Bastianelli was fastest that day).
Yet, the fastest women in this edition are Kirsten Wild and Jolien D’Hoore. Wild won the 2nd stage, D’Hoore the 3rd.
In 2011, the Giro Rosa visited Piacenza with Marianne Vos outsprinting hometown hero Giorgia Bronzini.
The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint (at kilometre 48.8) comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 4th stage 2018 Giro Rosa.
Giro Rosa 2018 stage 4: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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