The Giro Women continued with one of the most decisive stages of the entire race: an uphill ITT finishing atop Nevegal (7.4 km at 8.2%, first 5.5km at 10%), on the same course used in stage 16 of the 2011 men's Giro, won by Alberto Contador. An early benchmark was set by Valentina Venerucci in 35'29", a time that stood for quite a while before being beaten by Solène Muller (34'37").
With the first GC favourites at the finish, the times started to tumble. Urška Žigart went 1'05" faster than Muller, but soon after it was Marlen Reusser's turn. The world champion clocked 32'42" (23.4 kph). Strong rides also from Antonia Niedermaier and Monica Trinca Colonel, respectively 22" and 27" behind the Swiss. Meanwhile, Anna van der Breggen set an incredible time at the intermediate checkpoint, 24" faster than Trinca Colonel and 30" ahead of Longo Borghini, while Vollering and Reusser passed through 36" and 42" down on the SD Worx leader.
Quite surprisingly, Demi Vollering finished her time trial 6 seconds behind Reusser. The standout performance, however, came from compatriot Anna van der Breggen, who stopped the clock in 31'38" (24.1 kph), 1'04" faster than Reusser and 1'10" ahead of Vollering. In a fun comparison with the 2011 men's Giro, she would have placed 44th out of 165 riders, just 2'42" behind Alberto Contador. Niedermaier and Trinca Colonel completed the top five at 1'26" and 1'31" respectively. A difficult day instead for Elisa Longo Borghini, only 8th at 1'51". With this performance, van der Breggen lays down a major marker in her bid for a fifth Giro title, but with four stages still remaining and multiple difficulties, the race is far from over!