WHITE TO THE END: ANTONIA SEALS MAGLIA BIANCA WIN AT GIRO

On a brutal and highly attritional final stage of the Giro d’Italia Women, the ever-consistent Antonia Niedermaier delivered another first-class performance, finishing 9th from an elite selection of 12 riders who contested the eighth-day finale.

With that result, she cemented both fifth place in the pink general ‘Maglia Rosa’ classification and victory in the U23 youth classification – represented by the white Maglia Bianca jersey.

“It was a hard stage for sure, and I was a little bit afraid to lose it [Maglia Bianca]. But in the end, I was okay – I can race this kind of course quite well, so I just had to trust my legs, and my legs were actually better today than yesterday. I was like, ‘Yeah, for sure I can do it and stay in the front until the finish.’”

Only a handful of riders managed to establish meaningful breakaways throughout the 134 kilometre stage, but all were kept on a tight leash due to the relentless course profile (2243 metres of elevation gain) and a high tempo that snuffed out any real opportunities. A move from Holmgreen (LTK), Antonia’s closest Maglia Bianca rival at +47 seconds, came inside the final 30km, followed by several digs from van der Breggen (SDW) in the fast, rolling final 10km – she sat just +39 secs back. Eventually, a move featuring van der Breggen and Lippert (MOV) stuck in the final 3km, with the Movistar rider taking the stage win. Fortunately, the time gap at the line, just eight seconds, posed no real threat to Antonia’s GC standing. With good sensations in the legs, she felt confident and composed as the race unfolded.

“I think I was always in quite a good position – always able to react to the attacks. Also, the attacks were not super, super hard. It was never on the steepest part of the climbs, always afterwards, and I think that was good for me because then I could always go with them there.”

“I don’t think we could have gotten anything better out of today. I think it was a good day for us. The team supported me quite well and, for sure, I’m not the kind of person who can easily win a stage like this, but in the end, I’m really happy with how we ended up.”

Remarkably, today’s stage marked the 14th time Antonia has worn the white jersey across her three Giro d’Italia Women appearances. In 2023, she took the classification lead after a memorable victory on stage five, only to disastrously crash out the following day. In 2024, she wore the jersey after a 13th-place finish in the opening time trial and kept it until the penultimate stage, when teammate Neve Bradbury stormed to a standout victory atop Blockhaus, with Antonia finishing fifth.

The 2025 edition followed a similar trajectory, but with one key difference. After finishing 14th in the opening time trial, Antonia claimed the jersey from day one and this time wore it all the way to the grande arrivo at the historic Imola motor-racing circuit.

Now, with Antonia finally securing the white jersey for good, she brings the Maglia Bianca back to CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto for another year.

“It’s really nice that I could secure the white jersey and I’m really happy about that – happy because I finally have something from the Giro. I always missed out somehow, so it’s a nice treat. Step by step we’re getting there. Now it’s just the white jersey, but maybe next year the podium… and then maybe some kind of future pink jersey.”

This year’s tour was also a valuable learning experience in leadership for Antonia – especially with the loftier ambitions she has her sights set on for the future.

“This Giro meant quite a lot to me because it was the first time I was the GC rider for the team, and I knew I had the whole team behind me. We put a lot of effort in and unfortunately didn’t end up on the podium, but I think the white jersey is also a nice way to end this Giro. I think we can be so proud of how we raced – always together, always fighting. We went through the emotions together and I feel like the team spirit was really high.”

A successful Giro d’Italia Women completed for Antonia and the team – not forgetting Soraya Paladin’s podium on stage two. A few well-deserved days of downtime now await for all!