“I woke up this morning and thought I really wanted to do something today for the team and for all the staff. They worked all Giro so hard and we didn’t have a result even though we had a really nice atmosphere, and we were motivated and united all week,” said Elise Chabbey describing her motivation before yesterday’s exciting finale to the Giro d’Italia Donne.

Chabbey finished third on the stage and climbed back to tenth in the general classification to achieve her goal of a top ten. The CANYON//SRAM Racing rider used her trademark aggressive style of racing to go in a formidable breakaway with Lucinda Brand, Lizzie Deignan, Coryn Rivera and Anna van der Breggen within the first thirty minutes of racing. One hundred kilometres later, Elise led the breakaway to the finish where Rivera beat Deignan in a narrow sprint finish.

“I wanted to go in an early move. There were many attacks on the first climb and Coryn attacked on the top. I followed her in the downhill and soon Lucinda, Lizzie and Anna joined so it was a really strong breakaway,” explained Elise.

“Apart from Anna, we all worked really hard to hold the gap for 100 kilometres. After Lucinda was dropped with 10 kilometres to go, Lizzie stopped working. So it was just Coryn and myself, and then with 2 kilometres to go she also stopped. I made a quick decision and wanted to keep the gap to get my goal of a GC top ten so I rode from the front and keep the gap to the chasing peloton.”

“In the sprint, Anna left me the third spot on the podium and I’m really thankful for that. That means a lot to me, she’s a great champion,” admitted Elise.

“I’m really happy with this podium and with the top ten in the GC. My teammates and the staff were amazing during these ten days and all I can say is that I love how we tried each time and I hope we can keep going in this direction!”

TIFFANY CROMWELL

Teammate Tiffany Cromwell summed up her tour which will be her last race before Tokyo Olympics.

“Personally I was happy with my tour. It took a couple days to get going but I think I rode quite strongly even if the results don’t show it. I was happy to support the team in many of the stages with lead outs and in the climbs, and also enjoyed having a go in the final on stage seven.”

“I think it has been a good final preparation for Tokyo. I’ve finished the tour feeling tired, but not completely destroyed. I had some good hard days of racing and I’ve taken confidence with my climbing form too,” Tiffany added.

“Overall for the team it wasn’t our most successful race. We didn’t give up and we kept trying to support each other. It was really nice to see Elise rewarded with a stage podium and top ten GC on the last day. She’s been riding so strong all year, really fought hard in breakaways, and to try keep her GC position. We were all happy to see Elise finally get on the podium.”

ALENA AMIALIUSIK

“I am happy with my Giro and how I felt. My shape is in the right place now after a hard block of racing in Belgium and now these ten days,” said Alena Amialiusik.

“I really liked how we raced together, though I am disappointed that we didn’t achieve many things that we had set out to do. The team tried every day and we kept our commitment and the atmosphere was always positive. The ten stages flew by!”

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