Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuros) emerged as the second strongest rider in the Giro d'Italia Donnay on stage 8. She was the last of the GC contenders to drop out when race leader Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar Team) attempted a solo victory to further extend her lead.

The 24-year-old Italian was able to open a gap on the Movistar riders, but pulled away from Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) on the climb of Lago di Chey, reducing the times of all other rivals.

"I was just focused on keeping up with Van Vleuten," Cavalli said after stage 8. 'She had a really hard pace on the first part of the climb. Eventually Garcia fell off and I heard from the car that the gap was widening. I kept my pace and rode as hard as I could to close the gap."

Cavalli continued to maintain his pace to pull away from the Spanish champion, and at the finish he was over two minutes ahead of Garcia, switching the overall standings. Cavalli is now in second place, having widened the gap to Garcia. However, he also opened a gap on the leaders, as he finished 59 seconds behind stage winner and overall leader Van Hulten.

"I was closing on Van Vleuten, but she sped up and I lost a little time before the downhill," Cavalli said.

For most of the climb, Cavalli was only a few seconds behind Van Vleuten, but Maria Rosa used her experience to add to her advantage on the flat after the mountain sprint. A controlled crash briefly interrupted Van Vleuten's descent, but Cavalli had no chance to catch up.

"I received information about the crash over the radio, but I was already giving it my all on the descent, so there was nothing I could do to change anything. Cavalli was happy that her rival was unhurt, "It was good that she had no major problems and was able to restart after the crash."

Cavalli heads into the final mountain stage in third place, 2:13 behind the two-time Giro d'Italia Donne winner and 1:29 behind Garcia. The 112.8 km from San Michele Alladige to San Lorenzo d'Orsino will feature three mountain sections and an uphill finish.

Second place overall would be his best result in an Italian stage race, following 14th in 2020 and 6th in 2021. Cavalli's priority is to secure second place, but she is ready to attack Maglia Rosa if the opportunity arises, and the powerful FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope team will support her.

"There is a big gap between Van Vleuten and me. We have two goals tomorrow. To drop Garcia again and secure second place, and if Annemiek has problems after the crash or after nine days of racing, we will do our best to get to Maglia Rosa. It will be a hard stage to look forward to," Cavalli said.