Kristen Faulkner: "I was racing for Spratty and Georgia who weren’t able to start today"

Kristen Faulkner finished fourth on stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia Donne. She rode solo in the breakaway and enjoyed the stage.

Two of Faulkner's teammates, Amanda Spratt and Georgia Baker, left the tour due to Covid-19, which meant she had fewer people for support. She went on a solo breakaway since she had no one else to support.

“I think it was a great day,” said Faulkner. “We went away on the first climb, which was the plan. It was hard staying out solo all day, but we gave it our best. On that last climb, I was racing for Spratty and Georgia, who weren’t able to start today.”

Faulkner was caught by stage winner Annemiek van Vleuten on the last hill after riding for nearly 30 kilometers alone. She rode with van Vleuten for a while but eventually dropped back to the peloton at the hill's summit.

“Elisa is a faster descender than me, so I tried to hang with her wheel but she got me at the very end,” Faulkner said. “But it was a fight the whole way. It was a hard day and a good fight and I’m always down for a good effort so I gave it everything I could,” concluded Faulkner. She holds 13th position in GC, 19 minutes and 52 seconds behind overall leader Annemiek van Vleuten.