Elisa Longo Borghini took her first ever Giro Rosa stage victory as Anna van der Breggen moved into the overall lead on stage eight.

Longo Borghini and Van der Breggen went clear on the final climb two kilometres from the finish before the Italian edged a close uphill sprint for the line.

The pair put one minute and 19 seconds into general classification rivals Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig as they took full advantage of Annemiek van Vleuten’s abandonment after stage seven.

Van Vleuten, who led the race by nearly two minutes from Niewiadoma, fractured her wrist in a crash on Thursday and was forced to pull out in the early hours of this morning.

But Dutch fans have been made to wait just one day to recapture the leader’s jersey as Van der Breggen will now begin the final stage 1:10 in front of Niewiadoma.

New Zealand rider Mikayla Harvey finished 48 seconds ahead of the second major group on the road, but still lost more than half a minute to Longo Borghini and Van der Breggen.

Meanwhile, Borghini’s impressive display has seen her leap from sixth to third overall as she occupies the final step on the podium by just two seconds from Ludwig.

Harvey needs to make up 28 seconds on Longo Borghini to get on the podium, with all other riders at least 2:25 behind the top three.