Mariane Vos announced this morning that she is leaving the Giro de Donne after a stunning sprint victory from an 11-man breakaway group on stage 6.
"Happy with two wins," Vos said in a statement on Twitter.
"Now I'm going to recharge my batteries and focus on the next team goal.
The Dutch all-rounder won stage 32 at the Giro Donne, but is expected to focus on the Tour de France Femme after finishing 10:51 back overall in the Italian race.
"I'm still catching my breath," he said. 'It was a sprint win on the last climb, then a sprint win on another climb, then a sprint win here. It was pretty tough, but I'm very happy to have won.
"The team gave me a lot of confidence and trust. I can't expect to win two Giro Donne and the pressure is off after the first win. I'm very happy it worked out."
The sprint race unfolded after a crash in Flamme Rouge left many riders behind. Vos finished ahead of Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Works) and Silvia Persico (Valcar Travel & Service). Vos' countryman, Annemiek van Fruten, defended her Maria Rosa on stage 7.
Vos won her 31st victory on stage 3 after a battle with Elisa Balsamo. This was the reverse of stage 2, where Balsamo held on for the win; the two have now won two stages each in this race.
The stage 3 win was her first of the road season, but after three more big climbing stages, the Dutchwoman chose to leave the race and refocus on her next big goal of the season, the Tour de France Femme.
Her 31st and 32nd wins came 15 years after her first victory at the 2007 Giro d'Italia Donne, where she took three overall wins in 11 attempts and won almost a third of the stages she entered.
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