This page contains the stage podium, the race story, GC implications after the stage, and per-rider performance. Read no further if you intend to watch this stage unspoiled.
Anna van der Breggen crushed the 12.7 km uphill time trial to Nevegal, winning in 31:38 — 1:04 clear of TT world champion Marlen Reusser and 1:10 over Demi Vollering — to take the maglia rosa off Elisa Balsamo and seize control of the GC.
The first true GC day was a 12.7 km uphill time trial from Belluno to Nevegal, and Anna van der Breggen turned it into a statement. She was already 36 seconds up on Vollering at the first intermediate split and only extended her advantage on the upper slopes, stopping the clock at 31:38.
Marlen Reusser, the TT world champion, rode the discipline she dominates but could not match the climber — even after starting on a road bike and accelerating as the gradients steepened, she finished 1:04 down. Vollering went out fast, quicker than Reusser at the first checkpoint, but faded on the climb to come home 1:10 back in third.
The result transformed the race. After three days of Balsamo sprints with the GC bunched, van der Breggen took the maglia rosa with a real cushion over every rival, and the time-trial gaps would frame the GC battle all the way to the final weekend.
Because it was an individual time trial, the stage result equals the GC: van der Breggen in pink, Reusser 2nd at +1:04, Vollering 3rd at +1:10, Niedermaier 4th at +1:26, Trinca Colonel 5th at +1:31, Dickson +1:38, de Vries +1:39, Longo Borghini +1:51. Balsamo, the previous leader, dropped out of GC contention on the climb.
A dominant uphill TT, winning by over a minute and taking the maglia rosa. The ride established her as the GC leader and the rider everyone else had to overturn on the mountains — a position she held until the final day.
The TT world champion was beaten by 1:04 on a course too steep for her, but 2nd place moved her into 2nd overall — her high point of the race before the high mountains.
Started faster than Reusser but faded on the upper slopes, conceding 1:10 to van der Breggen — a deficit she would chase for the rest of the race and ultimately overturn on the final day.
Fourth on the day, limiting her losses to keep herself in the GC mix.
Lost significant time to her GC rivals in the TT, an 8th place that left her with ground to make up in the mountains.