After a stage three sprint win, CANYON//SRAM Racing rider Hannah Barnes continued her strong form at this year’s Giro Rosa when she surprised herself to a top ten finish today in Sant’Elpidio a Mare. The stage five 12.7km individual time trial was won by Annemiek van Vleuten (OGE) with a powerful win more than 40 seconds ahead of second placed Elisa Longo Borghini.

Barnes was the first rider to break 28 minutes when she stopped the clock at 27:32, an average speed of 27km/hour for the hilly time trial course. Following the race Barnes was pleased with her performance.

“I followed in the car when Leah (Thorvilson) raced and after this I was thinking I was more likely to be able to finish in the top 20 because the climbs were so steep.”

“I used my Ultimate CF SLX bike with Zipp super 9 disc and I’m really happy with this choice, it was right for me. I paced the flatter sections so I could go harder on the climbs. I’m really pleased to get that result. It’s a shame to have lost the points jersey today but we will see what happens in the next stages.”

Stage six tomorrow is a 116km, four lap circuit around Roseto degli Abruzzi. Racing starts at 12:15 CEST and can be followed on Twitter with #GiroRosa and #UCIWWT.

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