Cuban cyclist Arlenis Sierra won the prologue of the 25th edition of the Giro a Toscana and will wear this Saturday the pink jersey in the first stage of 116.8 kilometers in defense of the title won in 2019 when she was racing for the now-defunct Astana club.
Representing A.R Monex this season, the Manzanillera clocked 2: 59.33 minutes in the 2 km and 220 meters for a pace of 44.566 km / h on totally flat terrain in the usual time trial in the center of Campi Bisenzio.
The 28-year-old Cuban was escorted by local Martina Alzini, from Valcar Treavel & Service (3’04 “86) and Karolina Kumiega, from the Polish national team (3’05” 28).
The others with the best times were Maike Van Der Duin from Drops-Le Col (3’05 “38) and Agnieszka Skalniak, from Poland-Mat Atom (3’06” 31), according to the tuttobiciweb.it portal.
Eight seconds behind Arlenis when pedaling at 42.353 km / h, her teammate from A.R Monex, María Novolodskaya, the talented Russian bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Madison, finished in seventh place, a test that is run on the track.
The others from that club that run in Tuscany are the Italians María Vittoria Sperotto (31st place) and Katia Ragusa (41), the French Jade Teolis (80), the also bambina María Pia Chiatto (91) and the Mexican Ariadna Gutiérrez (111 ).
After the Saturday day of 116.8 km, the closing will be on Sunday with the Lucca-Montecatini stage, in a section of 135 kilometers.
145 riders participate in the Giro a Toscana –two registered did not appear in the game- from 24 teams. The Belarusian formation of Minsk was left outside, detained by the health authorities of the eastern country at the airport while embarking for Italy.
The event appears among the oldest and most prestigious in world cycling and pays tribute to the local Michela Fanini, an outstanding rider who won the Giro a Italia Femenino in 1994 and other important races in that country. She passed away that year at just 21 years of age in a car accident.