Guarischi wins Sparkassen Giro World Cup

Barbara Guarischi (Velocio-SRAM) sprinted to victory at the Sparkassen Giro, the seventh round of the women's UCI World Cup, on Sunday in Germany. It was her second sprint victory of the weekend, having won the RideLondon Grand Prix on Saturday. The sprint at the Sparkassen Giro came down to roughly 20 riders left in the main field, and Guarischi beat Lucinda Brand (Rabo-Liv) and Emilie Moberg (Hitec Products) at the finish line.

"It's unbelievable, really it's too much for me!" Guarischi said in a team press release. "After we traveled from Ride London race last night and this morning, I didn't feel good in the first lap. I went to our road captain Trixi [Worrack] and told her but she just told me to be patient and wait until the middle of the race see what happens. But still in the middle of the race I didn't feel good!

"Trixi and the girls believed in me and they delivered me perfectly in the lead out. Tiff [Cromwell] was the last person with me at 600m to go. I could see Brand try to come through the last corner fast and D'hoore was on her wheel. Tiff and I kept our position and she gave me space to go onto Brand's wheel. It was a similar way to how I beat Brand in the Giro Rosa stage. Except this time it was really close at the end. Just before the line I wasn't sure if it would be first or second, but then I threw my bike and I said to myself, 'it's the win!' And it was!"

Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) remains in the overall lead in the World Cup, after finishing 11th on the day. Elisa Longo-Borghini (Wiggle Honda) is in second overall and Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv) in third.

There was a one minute moment of silence for Top Girls Fassa Bortolo’s Chiara Pierobon, who died while travelling to the Sparkassen Giro on Saturday. The 22-year-old from Venice felt unwell during the long trip to Bochum in Germany. She passed away in hospital in Ngolstadt after receiving emergency medical treatment. The team said a pulmonary embolism could have been the cause of death.

The Sparkassen Giro marked the seventh round of the World Cup. The women raced through eight laps of a 15.5km circuit for a total of 124km. The circuit was mainly flat and fast, and although there was one climb up the Henkenbergstraase on course, it was not challenging enough to rid the field of the top sprinters.

There were several strong attacks and potential breakaways through out the race but all attempts were inevitably brought back into the field.

The course offered three QOMs and three Sprints during the race. The first place mountain points were picked up by Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Rabo Liv) and Alena Amialiusik (Velocio - SRAM). While the points were picked up by Corinna Lechner (Germany), Valentina Scandolara (Orica-AIS) and Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle Honda).

Armitstead forced attacks in the final 40km of the race, and her efforts resulted in a strong breakaway, but it wasn't enough to hold off the teams looking for a bunch sprint. Velocio-SRAM led the teams into the finishing stretch and Guarischi took the World Cup win on the streets of Bochum.

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