Liane Lippert has returned to celebrate at the Giro Women a year after her beautiful stage finish in Chieti. Today, the German athlete from Tam Movistar was the strongest in the eventful sixth stage with a crossing into San Marino and then beat Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix Deceuninck) in a sprint. The decisive moment was the false flat section after the Beato Sante climb, about 35 km from the finish, where several athletes, including Lippert, managed to break away from the group. No changes in the top three positions of the general classification, Marlen Reusser maintains her pink jersey.

RACE. A crazy stage for the sixth day of the race, the Giro Women athletes faced the Bellaria - Terre Noveresche stage of 145 km. A continuous up and down for this stage that did not give us a moment to breathe. Despite numerous attacks, we never witnessed the formation of a true breakaway, due to the very undulating route, with no one really managing to break free.

The race heated up on the Beato Sante climb when, just near the mountain point, Amanda Spratt (Lidl Trek) attacked and managed to take a significant lead. In the subsequent false flat, the race completely exploded. At 33 km from the finish, Sara Casasola (Fenix Deceuninck) and Juliette Labous (Fdj Suez) rejoined the head of the race while attacks and counterattacks continued behind them.  The escapees were then joined by Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix Deceuninck).

The decisive moment was the short climb just after Monte Porizio, positioned about ten kilometers from the finish. On the climb, Liane Lippert tried to make the difference and only Pauliena Rooijakkers managed to keep her pace. In the group, things also heated up with Elisa Longo Borghini, who after making her team work hard, tried to launch a powerful attack, remaining only with Marlen Reusser. Without the collaboration of the Swiss athlete, the two backed off and were caught by the rest of the group.

The stage victory was decided in a sprint, with Liane Lippert, significantly more explosive than Pauliena Rooijakkers, beating her opponent with an attack in the last 250 m. Third place went to Shrin Van Anrooij (Lidl Trek) who had tried to gain an advantage in the final kilometers. This is yet another interesting result for the American team, which, despite being at the Giro Women without a team leader, is carving out a leading role in the pink race. Elisa Longo Borghini finished ninth, arriving with the pink jersey group.

No major changes in the top three positions of the general classification, with Marlen Reusser still in pink, but thanks to today's second place, Pauliena Rooijakkers is now fourth behind Anna Van Der Breggen. Tomorrow the race will restart from Fermignano to face the most anticipated stage of this edition. The group will pedal for 150 km and in the finale, they will have to tackle the dreaded Monte Nerone.

CLICK HERE to reread the complete race chronicle.

FINISH ORDER

1  Lippert Liane Movistar Team 03:53:01

2  Rooijakkers Pauliena Fenix-Deceuninck + 02

3  van Anrooij Shirin Lidl-Trek + 46

4  Smulders Silke Liv AlUla Jayco + 01:05

5  Nooijen Lieke Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 01:16

6  Van Dam Sarah Ceratizit Pro Cycling Team + 01:24

7  Labous Juliette FDJ-SUEZ + 01:24

8  Aalerud Katrine Uno-X Mobility + 01:24

9  Longo Borghini Elisa UAE Team ADQ + 01:24

10 Malcotti Barbara Human Powered Health + 01:24