LORENA WIEBES DNS. In Ravenna she is the most anticipated athlete, the number one favorite and as always Lorena doesn't miss a beat. The Dutch champion doesn't hide and doesn't feel the weight of expectations. At the start of the season she declares her great objective without beating around the bush: I want the first pink jersey at the Giro. Meanwhile, while waiting, she raises her arms to the sky another 10 times, including one on gravel. Lorena has incredible sharpness, she is the strongest sprinter in the group, she knows it and doesn't hold back. In Ravenna she is the first to launch the sprint and for her rivals it is practically impossible to hold her wheel. First pink jersey, sixth victory at the Giro and career win number 127, in short numbers that are impressive.

Then comes the race direction's statement and the numbers that suddenly dissolve, the supremacy that turns to dust and the pink jersey that changes hands on the road to Roncade, from where they restart tomorrow.

ELISA BALSAMO 9. By now it's almost pointless to say it, Lorena Wiebes runs a championship apart, but in the other one, the one reserved for mere mortals, Elisa is in first place. The Lidl Trek athlete puts her team to work and then tries to resist the Dutch sprinter's charge, finishing second as already happened at the Vuelta Burgos and many other times in recent seasons. Yet another podium finish, but the Piedmont native doesn't give up, she finds herself with a victory and a pink jersey that she will already try to honor tomorrow with her usual determination, chasing success in the second stage.

LARA GILLESPIE AND TEAM UAE ADQ 8. The Irish rider is at her first Giro and knows well that the team's objective is not her sprints, yet she manages to secure a stage podium. The Emirati team takes control at the beginning of the circuit to keep their captain Elisa Longo Borghini up front, but no one moves even when the neutralization is called. Gillespie tries to make the most of her team's work and repays them for their trust, it's a third place that tastes like the beginning of something bigger.

CHIARA CONSONNI 8. We never see Canyon Sram at the front of the group, on the final circuit Chiara has to do everything alone. Yet the Olympic champion finds every possible opening and in the end comes close to the podium.

CELIA GERY 7 She wasn't even supposed to be at the Giro, called in at the last minute due to Elise Chabey's indisposition she proves ready. For the sprint she shouldn't even be the first choice and yet faced with Aly Wollaston's collapse she steps up and brings home a ninth place and also the first white jersey of the Giro.

CHARLOTTE KOOL 5. She is one of the pure sprinters in the group, this year she has already won 5 times including the Scheldeprijs. According to some bookmakers she is the only one who could worry Wiebes. Her sixth place is well below expectations.

BARBARA GUARISCHI 10. In the post-stage interview Barbara says there is something that didn't go according to plan, but she was perfect, even more than that. Throughout the stage she stays alongside Lorena Wiebes, protects her from the circuit's pitfalls and then brings her to the front. The Team SD Worx Pro Time train breaks apart, one athlete is missing and so the Lecco native anticipates the timing and literally does four jobs, leading her captain to victory. No two ways about it, Guarischi is absolutely the best lead-out in the group.

ANNA VAN DER BREGGEN 8. She is the classification rider for the SD Worx team, but as a true champion she doesn't spare herself. As already happened at the recent Vuelta Femenina, Van Der Breggen puts herself entirely at the service of the team: she pulls the group, tries to break the Team UAE ADQ train and guides operations like a true captain. Wiebes' success is also her victory.

ELISA LONGO BORGHINI 8. She is the defending champion and her approach to the Giro has been anything but simple. Elisa hasn't raced for practically two months, she has many questions, yet she doesn't hide. She puts her team to work, moves on her own to lend a hand and even finishes fourteenth in a stage that couldn't be further from her characteristics. The days for her will come later, but for now Longo is there.

CURNIS, SPIMI, ARICI 8. A stage practically already decided before the start, but Valeria Curnis, Sharon Spimi and Sofia Arici go on the attack from the first kilometers. No jerseys at stake, just hard work, yet they try anyway putting themselves on display and without holding back. It's only the first stage but Top Girls Fassa Bortolo, Isolmant Premac Vittoria and Vini Fantini - Be Pink have already honored the invitation received from the organization.

ALY WOLLASTON 5. She is the sprinter for the FDJ Suez team and today has a chance to play her cards in the sprint. The New Zealand champion is never in the race and always stays at the back of the group. We don't know if there's something wrong, but for now her Giro hasn't started in the best way.

CAT FERGUSON 17 Total misfortune for the young but very strong sprinter of Team Movistar. She crashes not once but twice even before the live broadcast images arrive. The British rider could have been one of the great outsiders to get involved in the fight for the first pink jersey and instead her Giro is already over.