Giro d’Italia Women stage 4 LIVE: Solène Muller sets the fastest but the favourites are on their way

Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike has opted for a full time trial set up, she’s had a great season, but will the extra weight affect her?
Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) is on a road bike with TT extension bars.

But we have a new fastest time, Marlen Reusser (Movistar) sets a time of 32.42, deposing Urška Žigart who had clocked 33.32.
That’s a stunning 50 second lead for the Swiss woman.

Vollering is off. One of the best climbers in the World, the Dutch rider is also one of the best time trialists.

In her first year at WorldTour level, Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ) is off the ramp now, her team mate, Demi Vollering is next.

Great ride from Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health, the Dutch woman taking provisional third place.

After a mechanical almost wrecked her race on Monday’s stage 3, German champion, Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-Sram) is on the road.

Trinca colonel takes the best time at the intermediate check, 9.23 for the Italian climber. But how will that wheel affect her on the tough gradients?

Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv-Alula-Jayco) opted for a solid aero disc wheel for her ride today, while others are going for low-profile climbing wheels.

After a pan flat Team Time Trial in 2020, we had to wait until the 2021 Giro for Van der Breggen to win the Alpine TT at Formazza, north of Milan.
Her SD Worx team mate Demi Vollering was second that day, finishing 3rd on GC. That was Vollering’s last Giro, how will she fare riding for FDJ United-SUEZ this year?

Full focus for Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike)

We’ve had the World time trial champion start, now it’s the turn of the road race rainbow jersey, Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly).

They raced in the Alps again in the 2019 Giro TT, with the same result, Van Vleuten putting 52 seconds into Van der Breggen over the 12.1km between Chiuro and Teglio. The Dutch rider even caught her two-minute woman, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram) on the line.

After running Solène Muller so close at the intermediate check point, Marion Muller loses time on the main part of the climb, stopping the clock 14 seconds behind her French compatriot.

Marlen Reusser, in the rainbow skinsuit of time trial World Champion is off! Will she be the new race leader? She started the day 30 seconds behind overall leader, Balsamo, but on the same time as rivals like Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ).

We’re getting towards the big names now, Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) has just started, and Marlen Reusser (Movistar) is off in a couple of minutes.

And Solène Muller (St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93) sets a anew fastest time of 34:37, putting a stunning 52 seconds into Venerucci.

Marion Bunel is the leader for Visma-Lease a Bike and she just moved into second place at the intermediate check, one second behind Muller.

Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) won a mountain stage of the Giro back in 2018, on her way to finishing third overall.
The Australian is retiring at the end of the seasoon, so this is her final Giro.

It was Van Vleuten again at the 2018 Giro. Like today’s race, it was a true Alpine mountain time trial, it started in Lanzada and climbed to the reservoir at Diga di Campo Moro, about 300km west of today’s stage.

Meanwhile, Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) has moved into second place. She seemed to be struggling in the first two stages, but this result will give her huge confidence ahead of the mountain stages to come.

Pan-American TT champion, Kritsen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) has switched from her TT bike to a road bike, but it was a slow change. We’l find out whether the swap was worth it.
She was not in the top 10 at the intermediate point.

While Venerucci continues to lead the race, there’s a new best intermediate time for 22-year-old Frenchwoman, Solène Muller (St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93), clocking 9.50.

Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ United-Suez) in the Italian time trial champion’s skin suit.

In the 2017 Giro, Annemiek van Vleuten won in the broiling heat and brutal, 20% slopes to Sant’elpidio a Mare on the Adriatic coast. Anna van der Breggen was second and won the GC that year. She’s here this year riding for SD Worx-Protime.

Venerucci has only been in the sport a few years, but started her sporting life as a distance runner, specialising in the 5,000m and off-track disciplines.

Venerucci is from the micro state of San Marino and the 32 year-old is well know as a more than useful climber.

Plenty of riders are choosing to use road bikes for the uphill section of the race. Here Nienke Veeenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike) climbs towards a time of 38.54, currently in third place.

Storrie’s time remains well over two minutes faster than anyone who has so far finished. She’s blown it away, but where will she be at the end of the day?

Though we’re likely to see a new race leader, so a new maglia rosa, Elisa Balsamo has a 55 point lead in the points classification, so she’ll keep the red jersey as there is a maximum of 15 points on offer today.

And Becky Storrie is the first to finish, the Picnic-PostNL rider clocking 35.57. She was sixth to start, so has put in a magnificent ride.

Soraya Paladin (Canyon-Sram) has just started. She’s a strong all-rounder, with a big engine for a time trial, but she may take it relatively easy to preserve herself for tomorrow.

No one is yet at the finish, which is an indication of just how hard today is, it’s 31 minutes since the first rider started the 12.7km course!

Storrie is standing the test of time, no one is yet inside 20 seconds of her 10:10 at the intermediate time check.
She’s done well in mountain TTs before, finishing 16th on stage 2 of the 2024 Tour de Suisse.

We saw Mikayla Harvey in a nasty crash during yesterday’s stage, sadly the SD Worx-Protime rider has been forced to with draw from the Giro this morning.
The loss will limit the support for their GC rider, Anna van der Breggen in the coming mountain stages.

No sooner do we say that than she is eclipsed by Beckie Storrie, the British Picnic-PostNL rider clocking 10:10.

Katelyn Nicholson has the current best time at the intermediate time check, the Australian stopping the clock in 10:38.

Eleonora La Bella (Aromitalia Vaiano) just started. She wore the blue mountains jersey in yesterday’s stage after taking maximum point on Sunday’s only climb at Ca’ del Poggio.

Robyn Clay (Picnic-PostNL) has just started. the British rider is among the first of the WorldTour team riders off the ramp. Clay is in her first year at this level, after coming to the sport late in life.

Though the early riders head off the ramp at one minute intervals, the final 15, will start with three minute intervals.

The remaining 7.4km is horrendous, with an average gradient of 8%, there are early ramps of 12% before the slope eases off to something more manageable.

The route is a tough one. Just 12.7km, it comes in two halves.
The first 5.3km to the intermediate time check is up and down and averages only 1.5% gradient.

Riders start at one minute intervals in the reverse order of the general classification, so Elisa Balsamo will be the final rider.

Two of Marinetto’s team mates, Sara Segala and Katelyn Nicholson are the next two off the ramp.

Elena Cecchini is still on home roads for today’s TT, though we’re further west than yesterday’s stage. And further into the mountains, north of Vittorio Veneto, a city Sunday’s stage passed through.