ADQ Team Emirates rider Chiara Consonni won the second stage of the Giro d’Italia for women, after a tough 110km race from Sirmione to the Volta Mantovana, where Consonni, who wore the red jersey, edged out Lotte Kopecky, the world champion and leader of the SD Worx-Protime team, to take the points classification.
Chiara expressed her happiness with the achievement, saying: “I am proud of the victory. Although I was confident that I could win, the presence of many strong bikes made the competition difficult, and my joy was greater. My colleagues in the Emirates Holding Team (ADQ) supported me, and this had a great impact on my performance. In the end, I was able to beat Lotte Kopecky, the world champion.”
Melissa Moncada, President of the Emirates Team, ADQ, and representatives of the team’s main sponsor, ADQ, joined in the celebration of Consone’s win in Italy.
“Chiara gave it her all during the race and it was great to see her cross the finish line so strongly,” said Moncada. “The ADQ team came to the Giro with great determination to do their best and all our riders put in a lot of effort. Chiara’s achievement is a great boost for all the team’s riders and I expect us to go into the remaining races with great spirit.”
In the Giro d’Italia, ADQ, the UAE’s first professional women’s team, will be fielding seven of its most experienced and rising stars, including Alina Amilioszek, Chiara Consonni, Eleonora Gasparini, Lizzie Holden, Erika Magnaldi, Silvia Persico and Dominika Wlodarczyk, who will be wearing her new jersey as Poland’s champion, and will compete under the leadership of ADQ’s technical directors Sherry Pridham, Alejandro, Gonzalez Tablas and Aida Nuño.