Celia Gery Outsprints The Breakaway In Salice Terme As Longo Borghini Attacks And Van der Breggen Survives A Crash
Celia Gery claimed the first major victory of her young career on stage 7 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women, outsprinting Lucinda Brand and Chantal Pegolo in Salice Terme after a six-rider group held off the chasing sprinters' teams by a single-digit margin on the line. For the 20-year-old former junior world champion, riding for FDJ United-SUEZ, it was a breakthrough on the sport's biggest women's stage.
The 159km stage from Sorbolo Mezzani opened with 100km of flat before the day's only classified climb to Pietragavina shattered the race. A five-rider break had built an advantage of more than eight minutes early on, but the decisive move came on the descent, where Gery and Silvia Persico bridged across, followed by Brand and Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ.
The two chasers were riding for very different reasons. Brand sensed a chance at the stage win, while Longo Borghini saw an opportunity to claw back GC time on a day the maglia rosa had been compromised. With 56km remaining, a mass crash had brought down race leader Anna van der Breggen, Marlen Reusser and several others, forcing the SD Worx-Protime riders into a frantic chase to rejoin the bunch.
Longo Borghini reached the front group with 19km to go and immediately drove it alongside her teammate Persico. At the 10km mark the leaders were 40 seconds clear, a margin that, had it held, would have lifted the Italian close to the overall podium. But Canyon-SRAM, Uno-X Mobility and Human Powered Health combined to chase, protecting both GC positions and sprint chances, and the gap tumbled inside the final kilometres.
By the line the group was only eight seconds ahead of a surging peloton. Persico had been dropped inside the final 3km, and a gap opened between the leading quartet and Longo Borghini, meaning the Italian gained just five seconds on her rivals. Brand led into the final corner 200m out and opened the sprint, but Gery came around her in the closing metres to take a famous win.
"I hadn't even thought about winning before the stage, I'm really, really happy," Gery said afterwards, explaining that she had initially set out to help leader Demi Vollering position for the descent before the race split in her favour. "It was a bizarre situation, but the girls behind managed the gap. In the final, I could play it tactically."
Van der Breggen, who had crashed a second time was forced into an exhausting recovery effort, eventually returned to the bunch 45km from home and finished safely in the main group to retain her overall lead. With the Colle delle Finestre and the summit finish at Sestriere looming on the queen stage, the Dutchwoman's grip on the maglia rosa will face its sternest examination yet.