Britain's Anna Henderson grabbed the lead in the women's Giro d'Italia on Monday after winning the 92km second stage through the Alps from Clusone to Aprica.
Henderson edged French rider Dilyxine Miermont to the line in an uphill finish after the pair escaped from the peloton halfway into the stage.
They built up a lead of more than three minutes before the climb to Aprica and held off the chasing pack.
Olympic time-trial silver medallist Henderson picked up a time bonus and took over the pink jersey worn by Marlen Reusser, the Swiss who won the 14.2km opening stage.
"As a team, we made the plan to be aggressive because we knew it would be a hard final and we have a really good team for attacking," said Henderson.
«We made the plan to be aggressive» 👊
— Giro d'Italia Women (@girowomen) July 7, 2025
🎙️ Anna Henderson discusses the biggest win of her career in the post-race interview 🥹
«Correre in modo aggressivo era nei piani» 👊
🎙️ @annahendersonxo nell'intervista dopo la vittoria più bella 🥹 #GirodItaliaWomen #WonderfulWomen #WOW pic.twitter.com/Zy0VzqG8fj
She leads Reusser by 15 seconds overall.
Reigning champion Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy came sixth on the day and is third in the general classification, 31sec adrift.
The race will stay in the Alps for Tuesday's third stage, a 122km route between Vezza d'Oglio and Trento which features the Passo del Tonale climb early on.
The 'queen' stage runs up and down the Apennines on Saturday, before the eight-day race finishes in Imola the next day.