Giro d’Italia: Neve Bradbury climbs to stardom with queen stage win, GC podium

Young Australian climbing sensation Neve Bradbury has claimed the biggest result of her career so far, winning the queen stage of the Giro d’Italia Women and finishing third in the general classification.

The 22-year-old from Melbourne also won the white jersey of best young rider at the end of the eight-stage race through Italy.

It comes four years after the St Kilda Cycling Club junior won Zwift Academy and signed a professional contract with Women’s WorldTour team Canyon-SRAM.

Bradbury’s impressive Giro performance was highlighted by her stage 7 victory, where she asserted herself as one of the best climbers in the world.

The epic stage saw the peloton tackle arguably the toughest day ever seen in women’s racing with more than 3,700 metres of elevation over 123 kilometres. The route featured two ascents of the formidable Blockhaus climb, where Jai Hindley won en route to his Giro victory in 2022.

Conditions were made even tougher in the sweltering heat.

Going into the stage two minutes down on race leader Elisa Longo-Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Bradbury made her first move on the lower slopes of the Blockhaus with 14km remaining. She was quickly reeled in, but with only five riders remaining in the lead group, and 10km to go, Bradbury attacked again and created a gap no one could close.

The Victorian was unstoppable as she powered her way to the top of the Blockhaus and to the stage victory, finishing 44 seconds ahead of Lotte Kopecky (Team SDWorx-Protime) and Longo-Borghini. The ride also propelled her into third in the general classification.

“I was focused only on the stage win, but then the gap got bigger, which I knew might also change the GC. By then I just went as hard as I could to the finish line,” Bradbury said.

“The climb is brutal. It’s the hardest race I’ve done. If you had told me four years ago after winning Zwift Academy that I could win a stage of the Giro, I would not have believed it! This will take a while to sink in.”

The GC standings remained unchanged after the final stage, with Bradbury sealing her podium place behind winner Longo-Borghini and second Kopecky.

After finishing 10th overall at the Giro in 2022, this has been a breakout year for the young climber, who last month took a stage victory and second overall at the Tour de Suisse.

“I’ve had a few good results lately, but I think this one has just topped it off and made me realise that it wasn’t all just luck in the past,” Bradbury said.

“Now I’ll have a week easy, reset, then full gas for the Tour de France.”

Main photo: @thomas_maheux