Giro d'Italia Women - Stage 7: Leading group wins seconds thriller - Victory for Célia Gery

On stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia Women 2026, a leading group makes it to the finish. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) attacks in the finale. The stage win goes to Célia Gery (FDJ-United-SUEZ) in a sprint from a septet.

A climb awaited in the final third of the 7th stage of the Giro d'Italia Women 2026, but it was precisely this climb that was enough to prevent a mass arrival in Salice Terme. After 159 kilometres, a group of seven finally reached the finish with a lead of just a few seconds. Celia Gery (FDJ-United-SUEZ) took the win, beating Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) in the sprint over the last few metres. Third place went to Chantal Pegolo (Isolmant - Premac - Vittoria).

Gery Brand was part of a quartet around Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) that broke away 25 kilometres before the finish after the climb in Pietragavina and caught up with the last escapees. The peloton took up the chase, but ultimately had to concede defeat by seven seconds after a wild and sometimes uncoordinated chase. Longo Borghini, meanwhile, failed to make up significant time in the classification. After a lot of work in the escape group, she had no chance in the sprint and crossed the finish line three seconds behind the winner.

There were no changes in the overall standings. Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx - Protime) continues to lead ahead of Demi Vollering (FDJ United - Suez, +1:00 minutes) and Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon - SRAM, +1:24 minutes).

Giro d'Italia Women 2026 - Results of the 7th stage

How the 7th stage of the Giro d'Italia Women 2026 went

The leading group of the day consisted of five riders: Alison Jackson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93), Marjolein van't Geloof (Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi), Gaia Segato (Vini Fantini - BePink), Chantal Pegolo (Isolmant - Premac - Vittoria) and Sara Luccon (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo).

However, the stage was bumpy for long stretches. Many other groups formed and set off in pursuit, including Eleonora La Bella (Aromitalia Vaiano), Giorgia Serena (Team Mendelspeck E-Work) and Clay Robyn (Team Picnic PostNL). However, they did not make it to the front of the quintet and were caught up again in the course of the stage.

The original leading group, on the other hand, built up a lead of over nine minutes. In the peloton, Lidl-Trek, Human Powered Health and FDJ-SUEZ endeavoured to chase, so that the gap gradually shrank - especially on the only climb of the day.

There was a scary moment after 103 kilometres due to a mass crash, which took Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx - Protime) in the pink jersey and Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon - SRAM) to Borden, among others. However, both were able to continue.

Segato won the mountain classification in Pietragavina (3rd category), which took place 27 kilometres before the finish. At this point, Van't Geloof and Luccon had already lost contact with the leading group. Instead, Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Elisa Longo Borghini and Silvia Persico (both UAE Team ADQ) as well as Célia Gery (FDJ-United-SUEZ) broke away from the peloton. They caught up with the leading group with 20 kilometres to go.

However, the lead of the group was only 30 seconds, as FDJ United - SUEZ and Canyon/SRAM did not want to let the group around Borghini go far. But the chase was not really coordinated. The leading group also benefited from the fact that the terrain was slightly sloping for many kilometres towards the finish. As a result, the gap between the two groups remained at around 30 seconds for a long time.

A thriller of seconds was on the cards until the finish, as three kilometres before the finish Persico, the driving force of the group, had to drop out for team-mate Longo Borghini due to exhaustion. Two kilometres before the finish, the lead was still 18 seconds. In the end, however, the lead was only a few seconds.