The Giro d'Italia Donne’s opening individual time trial was plagued by torrential rain and hail that eventually caused the stage to be cancelled. Ahead of the stage, many teams chose for their leaders to head down the ramp early before the worst of the rain was forecast.
One of the pre-race favourites, Canyon-SRAM’s newly-crowned double US national champion, Chloé Dygert, was 20th off the start ramp and was well on her way to posting an impressively fast time. However, as she traversed the 4.4km route, the team pursuit champion fell victim to the slippery conditions and crashed, losing time.
Dygert was able to continue, eventually claiming the fastest time despite her spill before it was overtaken just minutes later by Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), who went one second faster than the American.
Before the stage was cancelled, Dygert sat in 5th place on the stage amongst a group of five riders at just one second behind Letizia Paternoster (Team Jayco AlUla), van Vleuten, and Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma).
Dygert wasn’t the only rider to crash, as multiple other contenders slipped on the rain-drenched tarmac. Road race world champion Van Vleuten was also seen with a bandage on her arm as she warmed up for the stage, indicating that she may have had a fall during recon.
Ahead of the race, Dygert stated that she would be using the Giro Donne as preparation for the UCI World Championships in Glasgow in August, asserting that she and her team would be looking for stage victories as well as GC success. This Giro d'Italia Donne route does not contain any of the usual high passes or mountain-top finishes and could suit all-rounder Dygert overall.
The now-26-year-old will line up for the second stage alongside teammates Sarah Roy, Pauliena Rooijakkers, Soraya Paladin, Neve Bradbury, Tiffany Cromwell, and Antonia Niedermaier. Although Dygert has been a part of the Canyon-SRAM team since 2021, this is her first return to a full season of racing since her horrific crash during the time trial at the Imola World Championships in 2020 that saw her sustain a significant injury to her leg.
Since then, Dygert has been plagued with issues including Epstein-Barr virus, as well as a heart arrhythmia, or tachycardia, for which she had to undergo surgery last year.
The American returned to the peloton at La Vuelta Femenina earlier this year, where she showed impressive form, racing to three top-10s before leaving the race to recover ahead of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, where she claimed fourth overall.
Dygert then travelled to the UK for the RideLondon Classique, where she won a stage ahead of Lidl-Trek’s Lizzie Deignan to claim the first WorldTour victory for Canyon-SRAM in 2023.
Outside of racing for her two national titles, the Giro d'Italia Donne is Dygert’s first race since RideLondon at the end of May.
