As it happened: The sprinters take the day after a crosswind hit stage 6 at the Giro d'Italia Women

Today it's back to the flat lands for what we can expect to be a sprint stage, though with huge time gaps on GC maybe a breakaway will take the day. We roll at 13:50CET.

Good morning once again, it's stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia Women, stay with us once again for updates of the entire stage.

Wednesday's mountain stage not only saw changes in the general classification but it was a fabulous day's racing.

Demi Vollering takes sprint ahead of Anna van der Breggen for stage 5 win and first-ever career Giro stage victory.

There's plenty pink on show at the Giro today, except for EF Education-Oatly, who ride in their change kit.

Today's start is in the hills at Ala, north of Verona and we race 160km south to Brescello for what is the longest stage of the race.

The Giro d'Italia is always a race of attrition, now we're past the half-way mark a number of riders are out of the race.
Past stage winner Clara Emond among four riders out of race after mountainous stage 5.

And we're rolling for stage 6, we start with 3.9km of neutral. Its a beautiful day, with highs of about 28º and little chance of rain. There is wind, though, 15 km/h or more, and with the flat exposed nature of the second part of the course, there just might be some action.

We might still be up in the hills, but there's only 657m of climbing today as we head downhill to the eastern shore of Lake Garda, which the race follows all the way south.

Once by the lake it's still a little lumpy, but at 95km the riders will descend onto the flat plain of the Po Valley, and the final 60km contains only 100m of vertical ascent. And let's not forget that wind.

Official start

Let's go racing! From Ala, out of the hills and onto the Po Valley for what should be a sprint in Brescello, 160km later.

Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) successfully defended the overall lead yesterday, despite having a small support team.

"It was a good day, but also a hard day," she said.

After 16km the peloton will drop down a 5km descent to Riva del Garda, on the shores of the lake, then it's kilometre after beautiful kilometre along the lake shore.

And we have a small break of four women up the road already.

Camilla Bezzone (Mendelspeck E-Work), Sharon Spimi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and the Vini Fantini-Be Pink pair of Gaia Segato and Irene Cagnazzo have already built a lead of more than one minute.

150km to go

Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo seem to be established very quickly, their lead is already approaching two minutes, before the descent we mentioned.

It's a long stage today and with only four riders up the road, the peloton may well allow them a huge lead. Segato is the closest to Anna van der Breggen on the GC, but she's at 23.51, giving SD Worx little incentive to ride.

With the loss of both Lorena Wiebes and Mikayla Harvey, SD Worx have a depleted team and they will to be firing on all five cylinders for Saturday's Alpine stage.

So it's unlikely SD Worx-Protime will ride for a sprint today, though they almost certainly compete should the stage conclude that way. Expect either Barbara Guarischi or, more likely, Femke Gerritse to have a go.

140km to go

We're almost at the bottom of the descent and Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo's lead has extended to three minutes.

130km to go

Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo have increased their lead to 3.50. It seems the pattern of the day is set.

There are plenty of tunnels along the shore of Lake Garda, here the peloton pass through, with Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) in her customary position on the flat roads, with the Visma-LEase a Bike pair of Margaux Vigié and Marion Bunel nearby.

We saw a brilliant, battling ride from Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) yesterday.

"You never have to give up, you always have to fight, fight," she said.

120km to go

The breakaway's lead is not increasing quickly, but Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo are now four minutes ahead of the bunch.

This road along the coast of Lake Garda is not as straightforward as it might seem. With the race apparently in relaxed mood, the tunnels and narrower sections could punish any lapses in concentration, and we could see some crashes. Let's hope not.

Demi Vollering got her stage win, but how's she looking for the general classification?

Analysing the Giro d'Italia Women GC picture after shock time trial and thrilling mountain stage.

110km to go

The advantage for the breakaway has now settled properly at around the four minute mark.
All four riders up the road are Italian, representing three of the four Italian Continental level teams in the race.
Sharon Spimi has been up the road already this Giro, on stage one.

Stage 5 saw Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ) put in one of the strongest rides f the race so far from.
She reckons she never had "a harder day on the bike."

100km to go

It's really tough having the longest stage of the race the day after the one with the most climbing. There's doubtless some deep fatigue in the bunch, but that's part of what stage racing is about.
Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo continue to lead by four minutes.

We reach the southern end of Lake Garda at the stage's half way mark, 80km, in Peschiera del Garda, then, 20km later, the route drops down an escarpment into the plain of the Po Valley.

The sprinters' teams are in control of the peloton, Charlotte Kool's Fenix-Premier Tech on the front, but with Elisa Balsamo's Lidl-Trek close at hand.

There's a small climb coming up soon at Zappo. It's unclassified and far from steep, but it will upset the rhythm for some riders.

90km to go

Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo continue to lead by 4.106, the sprinters' teams are doing the work to control the gap.

Despite this being almost nailed on for a sprint, the safety zone for the GC times is at 3km from the line, as opposed to 5km for the earlier sprint days.
This means that should anyone suffer a mechanical or crash in that zone, they will receive the same GC time as the other riders they were with when the incident occurred.

It's interesting to see how close race leader Anna van der Breggen is to the front of the peloton. This is for safety reasons, the fewer riders are in front of you, the less likely you are to be caught behind or affected by a crash.

80km to go

The breakaway's time is being eroded very slightly now. That escarpment is not too far away and positioning will be key should the wind blow.
Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo lead by 3.39.

The wind is blowing on the Po Valley, but only at 10km/h, that's unlikely to be enough to split the race up. But teams will need to be on their guard when they get there.

70km to go

Having taken 30 seconds off their deficit quite quickly, the peloton has just backed off now.
Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo lead by 3.10. The bunch have them completely in the palm of their hands.

The drop off the escapement is close now. The drops and winds through the village of Volta Mantovana, with some tight bends and steep negative gradients of -12%.
Everyone will need to be attentive.

The pace is suddenly up, a number of teams trying to get to the front, UNO-X Mobility among them, SD Worx are there too, Van der Breggen well protected.

These streets are super-narrow, the breakaway are fine, but there'll be a huge fight for position in the bunch.

The road surface isn't brilliant either. Let's hope everyone gets through safely.

UNO-X riding brilliantly on the front through Volta Mantovana, stretching the bunch right out.

60km to go

Now we're onto the plain, the bunch is out of the village. This is where the possibility of crosswinds will begin. The pelton is split up, though most are likely to get back on.
Bezzone, Spimi, Segato and Cagnazzo lead by onlt two minutes.

With some gaps in the peloton, Van der Breggen goes to the front of the leading group and nails it, putting pressure on Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ), who's caught in the second group.

The breakaway lead bay only 1.15 now.
What wind there is will be coming from the riders' left shoulder, but the road is slightly shltered by trees.

Vollering's group is only around 100m behind and is certain to get back on. Other groups may well be less lucky.
This is why Van der Breggen and her team have been close to the front all day.

A big group containing Marled Reusser, most of her Movistar team and other big names, is more than 30 seconds behind the Van der Breggen group. In turn, the Van der Breggen group is only 20 seconds behind the breakaway.

The Vollering group has reached the Van der Breggen group, creating a decent sized peloton.
The breakaway is caught.

Reusser is a strong rider and is doing the work to close the 30 second gap herself, despite having the rest of her team on the wheel at the front of a large group of around 40 riders.

50km to go

This has been a serious problem for Reusser and Movistar, though they're only 20 seconds behind now, it's taken a huge effort just to close 35 seconds.
The wind is blowing, and had there been less shelter from trees and buildings, they may never have got back on.

The Movistar sprinter, Arlenis Sierra drops from the Reusser group, while the Swiss rider is back doing the work herself. But they still trail by 13 seconds.

Human Powered Health are helping Movistar close the final metres and finally the race is back together.

They're in a period of cross tail wind now and approaching the day's intermediate sprint at Ospitaletto.

There are 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available at the coming sprint which they'll each with 39.8km to go. FDJ know this and appear to be trying to position Vollering to take the time.
There are points too, so Balsamo is likely to want those for the red jersey competiton.

40km to go

All together as they approach the sprint, FDJ on one side of the road, SD Worx on the other. But Lidl-Trek and Balsamo are there too. You can feel the tension.

FDJ go hard, but SD Worx force Vollering into the wind. Balsamo takes first, Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime) is second and Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-KEase a Bike third.

Forgetting the possibility of more crosswinds, the next few kilometres are pretty straightforward with long, straight roads all the way to Viadana, across the Po River from the finish. This, though, is the start of an increasingly technical finish.

Looks like the sprint had a tail wind, but a left turn puts us back in crosswind territory, and the roads are way more exposed than earlier.

30km to go

All seems relatively calm in the peloton now. There is definitely some wind out there, the trees are blowing, but they're the issue, preventing the race from splitting as they shelter the road.

There's a mixture of teams on the front now, Movistar, FDJ United-SUEZ for the GC riders, Visma-Lease a Bike, Fenix-Premier Tech and Human Powered Health for the sprints.

Unless the wind picks up in a more open stretch of road a bunch sprint seems inevitable. some teams are sending their riders back to the cars for feeding, but it's obvious there's tension in the bunch.

20km to go

And no sooner do we say that than there's an attack. Mendelspeck E-Work rider, Girogia Serena is away, building a gap of 20 seconds in the blink of an eye.

Even Serena will know her chances of a first pro victory are tiny, but if you don't try you can't win. It's also important for the small Continental teams to repay race organisers for their invitation.

Serena has quickly built a big gap of 50 seconds as the peloton don't really appear too bothered by her attack.

Serena was in the breakaway on stage 2 and her Mendelspeck E-Work team have been aggressive throughout the week, with Camilla Bezzone up the road earlier today.

At the 10km to go mark there's a tight left hander to take the race onto the bridge across the river. This is the start of the final, so expect teams to start bringing Serena back soon, even if there are long straight sections after the bridge.

10km to go

Serena's lead had grown to one minute, but with the technical final beginning to unfold, her lead is down to only 15 seconds.

UNO-X Mobility, EF Education-Oatley and Human Powered Health are setting the pace on the front of the bunch, bringing Serena back as they head into the bridge over the Po. She's caught.

US champion Kristen Faulkner leads EF Education on the front of the peloton, with Human Powered Health and Fenix-Premier Tech also there.

6km out there's a left, off the main road and underneath it, and then again 2.5km from the finish, these are important for positioning, but it gets really technical with 1200m to go.

5km to go

The lead outs are really getting sorted now, Fenix-Premier Tech are very obvious, while Liv-Alula-Jayco are there too.
We're on wide roads now, but not for long.

The road here is so wide almost every team is present at the front, bit there'll be a huge fight to get into the narrow town streets very soon.

Van der Breggen takes her place close to the front on the wheels of her team mates. Vollering is working for sprinter, Ally Wollaston.

UAE Team ADQ arrive in numbers, they'll want a win for Lara Gillespie.

2km to go

The roads are so wide it's a seething mass of cyclists, off the big road now, then we have a straight section until 1200m.

FDJ hit the front. Now UAE.

1.2km from the line is the first of six tight turns on narrow town streets, the last coming 400m from the finish. Even then the road curves to the right, only straightening out at 200m, where it gets very narrow indeed.

Lucinda Brand leads Balsamo through, but there's a crash on one of the corners. Brand is bossing this.

Into the final 1000m and the roads are becoming increasingly narrow. Brand still in control.

Brand drops off Balsamo and Maggie Coles-Lyster goes long for Human Powered Health. But Balsamo is too strong, overtaking the Canadian rider to take a fourth stage victory.

Coles-Lyster holds on for second, with with Georgia Baker (Liv-Alula-Jayco) in third.
That was a monster lead out from Brand, who is the current World Cyclo-cross champion.

A fourth stage for Elisa Balsamo and it was almost inevitable, the way she's been sprinting. It should be born in mind her Lidl-Trek team are fighting for the GC with Isabella Holmgren and Niamh Fisher-Black, as well as the sprints, but they are able to organise their team well enough to provide a lead out.

It does help that Lucinda Brand is such a brilliant lead out.

"When you have the best lead out in the world it's just easy," Balsamo said.

"It's never easy, but with Lucinda everything is so much easier because I don't have to fight for position I just need to trust her because I know she's the best one. So it's most on her than me, honestly.

I think a lot of sprinters thought that it was a really good opportunity today, so I could see a lot of full leads outs in the last kilometres, and me Fleur [Moors] and Lucinda were just jumping and at one we found I think the perfect point behind Fenix.

"This morning on bus we said we ant to take the corner at 1.3km in the front, I don't care if I'm in second position because I just want to be safe, but lucinda was so strong she brought be until 200m to go so it was perfect."

Balsamo's lead in the Points Classification is 97, and with a maximum of 101 points left in the race, the former World Champion can wrap up the red jersey on tomorrow's stage, which is also looking like a bunch sprint finish.

"It's never easy, I need to arrive at Sestriere [on Saturdays stage] first but yesterday we did also the intermediate sprint because we want this jersey and of course it's not going to be easy, but I think we are in a really good position."

As for the general classification, at the moment SD Worx-Protime and Anna van der Breggen seem to be in control, though Saturday's stage in the Alps may tell another story.

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) started the day second overall, 60 seconds down, but her decision to go for the the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint seemed odd. It didn't go well either, SD Worx infiltrating the lead out and forcing Vollering into the wind.

She ended up not scoring at all, but why bother. While taking time where you can is a great strategy, it seemed a lot of work for six seconds, so maybe Vollering doesn't trust her climbing ability.

For now at least, Van der Breggen remains in pink.

Thanks for joining us today, we'll be back tomorrow for stage 7, the last day before the decisive weekend in the mountains. They roll at 12:40CET.