Liane Lippert (Movistar) went deep to win the Tre Valli Varesine(Image credit: Getty Imhges)
Liane Lippert continued her successful 2023 season at Tre Valli Varesine Women, powering away from the field to win alone after a perfect lead-out into the final climb by her Movistar teammates.
The German national champion finished a few seconds ahead of Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ) in second and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) in third.
Lippert was guided by Jelena Erić and former winner of the race Arlenis Sierra on the final lap to Varese before the Movistar trio opened a gap on a descending section and then launched Lippert to her race-winning attack on the climb to the finish.
Balsamo and Uttrup Ludwig were unable to bridge the gap despite the Dane coming within a few metres of the German’s wheel at one point. She ran out of steam and cracked under the pressure 1.2km from the line.
This is Lippert’s fourth win of the season adding to victories at the Tour de France Femmes, Tour de Romandie Féminin and the German national championships.
“I think the key moment was the downhill before the last uphill part and my teammates did an incredible job obviously before being in the breakaways and then in the downhill full gas,” Lippert said after the race.
“I had a gap on the other strong climbers so I just went full gas but without my team, it’s not possible.”
Following the early start to racing in Busto Arsizio, attacks from Henrietta Christie (Human Powered Health) then the eventual breakaway trio of Scarlett Souren (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Emanuela Zanetti (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria) and Noemi Eremita (GB Junior Team Piemonte Pedale Castanese A.S.D) got away.
Souren was the last woman standing as the break entered the finishing circuit into Varese and the Dutchwoman would last until the final 55km where racing came back together.
Esmée Peperkamp (Team dsm-firmenich) was the next rider to get away from the peloton 45 km from the line with the climbs coming thick and fast in northern Italy before she was reeled back in by Morgane Coston (Cofidis) and Claire Steels (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) with the peloton close behind.
The attacks multiplied as the riders completed the last few ascents of the Casbeno and Montello climbs with Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma) and Anouska Koster (Uno-X) all trying unsuccessfully to go clear.
With everything back together thanks to the stellar work of Erić and Sierra, Movistar were clearly happy to control and back Lippert to be the strongest. The three national champions of Serbia, Cuba and Germany got into formation and started a daring descent into the final four kilometres.
With the speed close to 70 km/h, the bunch split, launching Lippert’s attack alone. She got a gap and so Erić and Sierra could knock off their effort and allow the likes of Balsamo, Uttrup Ludwig and Francesca Barale (Team dsm-Firmenich) to chase.
Balsamo blew up quickly as the inclines hurt, leaving just Utrrup Ludwig - the winner of last Saturday’s Giro dell’Emilia Donne to chase. However even the strong Dane couldn't catch Lippert and started to falter.
Lippert knew she had won as she went under the flamme rouge and the climb ended. She was able to sit up and celebrate as she crossed the line, capping off her and the Movistar women's team’s season with an impressive final victory.
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale teammates and breakaway riders cross the finish line together with Nicolas Prodhomme winning stage 5 and Paul Seixas taking second place in Lienz
