Niamh Fisher-Black timed it to perfection to win the first summit finish of the Giro d'Italia Women, on stage three to Toana.
She followed an attack by Mavi García (Liv Jayco-AlUla) with two kilometres to go of the category-two climb to Toana, before dropping her inside the final kilometre as the gradients kicked up towards the finish.
The 12.5km climb was the only major ascent on what was an otherwise flat day, which took the riders 113km south from Sabbioneta across the Emila-Romagna region of northern Italy.
Fisher-Black's SD Worx-Protime team-mate Lotte Kopecky came in six seconds back, with Juliet Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and race leader Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) finishing at the same time.
Fisher-Black, 23, said she had earmarked the stage before the race.
"I don't think anyone expects to win, but for sure I had a good feeling about today coming into the tour. Feeling a bit rough for a couple of weeks, but something about this stage spoke to me.
"It's up near my best [wins]."
The result means Longo Borghini retains the pink leader's jersey, but Kopecky moves up from fourth to second place and, with the help of her six-second time bonus for second place, is now just 13 seconds behind the Italian. Fisher-Black, meanwhile, shoots up 23 places, from 28th to fifth on GC.
How it happened
It was clear from the start that the GC favourites and their teams wanted make the running on the climb to Toana at the end of the race, and to that end there was very little headway made by the attacks that did take place throughout the stage.
A few pairs and individuals did manage to get out front though, notably Sarah Roy (Cofidis), who attacked midway and was joined not long afterwards by Elena Pirrone (Roland).
They managed to open up a gap of more than a minute on the bunch, but inevitably, they did not survive and were caught shortly before the climb.
Once the road began to point upwards, Canyon-SRAM hit the front with a vengeance, whittling the peloton down to around 20 riders within three kilometres.
Also pulling at the front was García, who then managed to find the legs from somewhere to put in a potentially race-winning attack.
She hadn't counted on Fisher-Black though, who was straight on her wheel, and when the time came, accelerated once again to take the win.
Results
Giro d'Italia Women, Stage 3: Sabbioneta > Toata, 113km
1. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) SD Worx-Protime, in 2:49:19
2. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, +6s
3. Julette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL
4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, both s.t.
5. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +10s
6. Mavi García (Esp) Liv Jayco-AlUla, +12s
7. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon-SRAM, +14s
8. Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ-Suez, at s.t.
9. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +17s
10. Kimberley Le Court Pienaar (Mus) AG Insurance-Soudal, +24
General Classification after Stage 3
1. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, in 5:52:00
2. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, +13s
3. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich-PostNL, +25s
4. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +59s
5. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) SD Worx-Protime, +1:00
6. Mavi García (Esp) Liv Jayco-AlUla, +1:26
7. Katrine Aalerud (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:27
8. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, at s.t.
9. Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ-Suez, +1:30
10. Kimberley Le Court Pienaar (Mus) AG Insurance-Soudal, +1:31
