Tiffany Cromwell took her biggest win to date, soloing to victory on the fifth stage of the Giro Donne.

Crossing the finish line in Molinella 8:33 ahead of the bunch, Cromwell has shot up to fifth place on the overall classification.

"I honestly thought it was a day for the sprinters," said Tiffany Cromwell. "But I saw an opportunity and took it."

On paper, the pancake flat profile favored the fast finishers. Without a pure sprinter among their team of eight, ORICA-AIS did not want to leave the stage result to the finish.

"We know we have one of the strongest teams here, but we lack a sprinter that can compete with the top sprinters in this field," said Sports Director Dave McPartland. "So, we decided we would send some of the girls up the road and use our numbers as our strength."

The opening kilometres of the 128 kilometre stage featured narrow roads.

"We spent the first 20 kilometres on the attack," McPartland explained. "We thought this was our best chance because the roads were narrow. None of our moves stuck. Tiff attacked just as the road started to widen. No one went with her. That surprised me."

The peloton sat up slightly with Cromwell up the road. Cromwell's advantage swelled as she powered on towards the finish.

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