{"id":1010173,"date":"2026-06-07T00:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T00:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1010173\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T00:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T00:16:20","slug":"giro-ditalia-women-2026-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1010173\/","title":{"rendered":"Giro d’Italia women 2026 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Giro d\u2019Italia Women begins on Saturday 30th May, and it promises to be a beautiful race. Can Demi Vollering<\/a>, with the Finestre as the decisive climb, make history? IDL Pro Cycling breaks down the whole race.Where the Tour de France Femmes<\/a> only came into being this decade, the women\u2019s Giro d\u2019Italia \u2014 formerly the Giro donne \u2014 has existed for much longer. 1988 was the year the first edition was held. And what a roll of honour it has, too: riders such as Marianne Vos<\/a>, Annemiek van Vleuten and Elisa Longo Borghini<\/a> have all won it more than once.The Italian is the defending champion, having been the best in both 2024 and 2025. And both times it was a real thriller<\/a>. Two years ago she went into the final day with a one-second lead over Lotte Kopecky. A year later she knocked pink jersey wearer Marlen Reusser<\/a> out of the lead in the final mountain stage with a clever move. Whether she can add a third title is another question: the opposition is extremely strong.Latest winners Giro d’Italia women<\/p>\n

2025 Elisa Longo Borghini
2024 Elisa Longo Borghini
2023 Annemiek van Vleuten
2022 Annemiek van Vleuten
2021 Anna van der Breggen
2020 Anna van der Breggen
2019 Annemiek van Vleuten
2018 Annemiek van Vleuten
2017 Anna van der Breggen
2016 Megan Guarnier<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Route, stage favorites, and times – Giro d’Italia women 2026Stage 1, May 30, 2026: Cesenatico – Ravenna (139 km)\"giro-vrouwen-1\"\/The Giro started with a stage that couldn’t be flatter. On the east coast of Italy, the course featured only 240 meters of elevation gain. Consequently, the sprinters battled for the first pink jersey. In the inevitable sprint, Lorena Wiebes ultimately made the standings abundantly clear with a scorching sprint, but she was disqualified afterwards<\/a> due to using a bike that was too light. Elisa Balsamo<\/a> will therefore wear the first pink jersey on Sunday.Winner: <\/b>
Elisa Balsamo<\/a> (Lidl-Trek)Stage 2, May 31, 2026: Roncade H-Farm – Caorle (156 km)\"giro-vrouwen-2\"\/<\/p>\n

New day, new sprint opportunities. In the second stage, too, the fast ladies had little to fear from the course. Elisa Balsamo, holding the pink jersey, did indeed cross the finish line first in Carole this time.<\/p>\n

Winner:<\/b>
Elisa Balsamo<\/a> (Lidl-Trek)Stage 3, June 1, 2026: Bibione – Buja (156 km)\"giro-vrouwen-3\"\/Despite Demi Vollering<\/a> testing her GC rivals on the day’s main climb, there was not enough cooperation to stop it coming back together for a third sprint. Which Elisa Balsamo duly won, by quite some margin.Winner:
Elisa Balsamo <\/a>(Lidl-Trek)Stage 4, June 2, 2026: Belluno – Nevegal (Time trial, 12.7 km)\"giro-vrouwen-4\"\/<\/p>\n

After three fairly simple days, the first general classification test was on the calendar, featuring a tough uphill time trial. The start from Belluno is not too difficult, but after the first intermediate point (5.3 kilometers), the road climbed extremely steeply. The time trial proved to be a triumph for Anna van der Breggen, who truly humiliated her competitors with a lead of over a minute.<\/p>\n

Winner <\/b>
Anna van der Breggen<\/a> (SD Worx-Protime)Stage 5, June 3, 2026: Longarone – Santo Stefano di Cadore (146 km)\"giro-vrouwen-5\"\/<\/p>\n

Time for the Dolomites! No super icons like the Giau, Stelvio, or Tre Cime, but the stunning Passo Tre Croci from Cortina d’Ampezzo. The finale features three climbs that aren’t too long, but are incredibly tough. The big names took advantage of this: Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) won the stage, ahead of pink jersey wearer Anna van der Breggen.<\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>
Demi Vollering<\/a> (FDJ-Suez)Stage 6, June 4, 2026: Ala – Brescello (159 km)\"giro-vrouwen-6\"\/<\/p>\n

After a few grueling days, the sprinters got another chance. Lidl-Trek had everything perfectly on track once again and guided Elisa Balsamo to yet another, her fourth stage victory of the week.<\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>
Elisa Balsamo<\/a> (Lidl-Trek)Stage 7, June 5, 2026: Sorbolo Mezzani – Salice Terme (159 km)\"giro-vrouwen-7\"\/<\/p>\n

This long stage turned out to be an interesting one. Once again, there was little excitement on the course for most of the ride, but in the finale we finally found a substantial climb. The race ignited on the descent, with C\u00e9lia Gery being one of the riders who jumped to the remaining breakaway. The Frenchwoman ultimately won in a six-way sprint.<\/p>\n

Winner<\/b>
Celia Gery<\/a> (FDJ-Suez)Stage 8, June 6, 2026: Rivoli – Sestriere (105 km)\"giro-vrouwen-8\"\/The queen stage with a capital Q! From Rivoli, there will be a long stretch of flat road, but the Colle delle Finestre is the toughest climb ever featured in the Giro d’Italia Women<\/a>. Nearly twenty kilometers, eight of which are unpaved: it will be a war of attrition. In the end the stage was shortned due to an ice and snow warning. That didn’t stop Demi Vollering winning at the top of the Finestre ahead of a small group of the favourites.Winner: <\/b>
Demi Vollering<\/a> (FDJ-SUEZ)Stage 9, June 7, 2026: Saluzzo – Saluzzo (145 km)\"giro-vrouwen-9\"\/<\/p>\n

The final stage of the Giro is no easy one. In 145 kilometres there are 2,200 metres of climbing, although the summit of the toughest climb comes 90 kilometres from the finish. The Colletta di Brondello is no soft touch either. In terms of profile, it resembles last year\u2019s final stage of the Tour de France Femmes a little. So plenty can still happen.<\/p>\n

Favorites<\/b>
Marion Bunel (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly)
Urska Zigart (AG Insurance – Soudal)<\/p>\n

Favorites final classification Giro d’Italia women 2026<\/p>\n

After years of Dutch dominance, Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini<\/b> restored the balance in the Giro d\u2019Italia Women with two wins in a row. The UAE Team ADQ leader is back again this year, but she will not be the outright favourite. That status can only belong to Demi Vollering<\/b>. The Dutch rider from FDJ-SUEZ has not yet won the race and will do everything she can to change that.<\/p>\n

Last year Longo Borghini fought a fierce battle with Marlen Reusser<\/a><\/b>. The Swiss rider from Movistar is back this year too, returning after a serious back injury. In that same Giro, Sarah Gigante<\/b> (AG Insurance – Soudal) was the undisputed queen of the mountains. After suffering a severe injury last year, the Australian is still not fully recovered, which is why the Belgian team are backing Ur\u0161ka \u017digart<\/b> instead.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"marlenAnna van der Breggen<\/b> looked set for overall victory in the Vuelta Femenina, but saw it slip away on the Angliru. Can the SD Worx-Protime leader do it this time? For Visma | Lease a Bike, top climbers Marion Bunel <\/b>and Femke de Vries<\/b> line up, while Lidl-Trek also have two strong cards in Niamh Fisher-Black<\/b> and Isabella Holmgren<\/a> .<\/p>\n

As outsiders, Liv AlUla Jayco have the ever-strong climbing Monica Trinca Colonel<\/b>, while her compatriot Barbara Malcotti<\/b> (Human Powered Health) could also do very well. World champion Magdeleine Vallieres <\/b>(EF Education-Oatly) is also there, as is Antonina Niedermaier (Canyon\/\/SRAM). Besides top favourite Vollering, FDJ-SUEZ also have Elise Chabbey<\/b>.<\/p>\n

IDL Pro Cycling top picks, 2026 Giro d’Italia women’s race:<\/p>\n

Top favorite: <\/b>Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ)
Outsiders: <\/b>Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) and Marion Bunel (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Long shots: <\/b>Urska Zigart (AG Insurance – Soudal), Niamh Fisher-Black, Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek), Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco), Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly), Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health), Antonina Niedermaier (Canyon\/\/SRAM) and Elise Chabbey (FDJ-SUEZ)<\/p>\n

TV Giro d’Italia women 2026<\/p>\n

The race can be seen every day in Europe and the UK on HBO Max and Eurosport (subscription needed).<\/p>\n

In North American you can watch all the action on Flo Bikes (subscription needed), and in Australia the action will be free to view on SBS.<\/p>\n

For the rest of the world, check the official race website<\/a> for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Giro d\u2019Italia Women begins on Saturday 30th May, and it promises to be a beautiful race. Can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1010174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,202185,279800,98398,98399,25893,79,16,15],"class_list":["post-1010173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-demi-vollering","tag-elisa-balsamo","tag-giro-ditalia-women","tag-marlen-reusser","tag-previews","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116705951741535164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1010174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}