Antonia Niedermaier fended off a late charge from overall race leader Annemiek van Vleuten to win stage five of the Giro d’Italia Donne.
The German sprinted to victory ahead of defending champion Van Vleuten and New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black.
The 20-year-old timed her race to perfection as Van Vleuten and stage four winner Elisa Longo Borghini suffered dramatic crashes.
Dutch rider Van Vleuten mounted a final chase but was unable to catch up.
“I’m really overwhelmed because it’s my first Giro Donne, and I’m so young,” Niedermaier told Cycling News.
“I think this victory is for my grandma because she died this year, and it was really sad for our family because she was one of the closest persons to me.”
Niedermaier jumped to second spot in the general classification standings with victory.
She is two minutes seven seconds behind four-time winner Van Vleuten, while American Veronica Ewers is a further 11 seconds back in third spot.
Stage five results
1. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/ Canyon SRAM Racing) 3hrs 14mins 2secs
2. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned/Movistar) +09secs
3. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ/SD Worx) +01min 26secs
4. Juliette Labous (Fra/DSM-Firmenich) Same time
5. Veronica Ewers (Ned/EF Education-Tibco-SVB) Same time
6. Gaia Realini (Ita/Canyon SRAM Racing) +01:32
7. Mavi Garcia (Spa/Liv Racing TeqFind) +02:01
8. Erica Magnaldi (Ita/UAE Team ADQ) Same time
9. Fem Van Empel (Ned/Team Jumbo-Visma) +02:54
10. Silvia Persico (Ita/UAE Team ADQ) Same time
General classification
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned/Movistar) 12hrs 19mins 36secs
2. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon SRAM Racing) +02min 07secs
3. Veronica Ewers (USA/EF Education-Tibco-SVB) +02:18
4. Juliette Labous (Fra/DSM-Firmenich) +03:00
5. Gaia Realini (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +03:14
6. Mavi Garcia (Spa/Liv Racing TeqFind) +03:39
7. Erica Magnaldi (Ita/UAE Team ADQ) Same time
8. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den/FDJ-Suez) +04:29
9. Ane Santesteban (Spa/Jayco-AlUla) +04:57
10. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ/SD Worx) +05:03
