While the men’s Giro d’Italia is coming to a close, the Giro d’Italia Women kicks off on Saturday 30th May in Cesenatico, with the route mixing a handful of sprint stages, a mountain time-trial and the Colle delle Finestre.
The start list for the race is filled with top tier riders for both the GC and sprints, in part thanks to the race’s new spot on the calendar.
To get you excited for the second women’s Grand Tour of the year here are seven things you should know before it gets underway.
1. It’s an upgraded edition for 2026
Giro organiser RCS has added an extra day to the race for 2026, meaning there are nine stages of racing in northern Italy and no rest day, the same as this summer’s Tour de France Femmes.
The race also occupies a different position on the calendar having been moved from July to the end of the men’s Giro to provide further separation from the Tour. That is hoped to not only bring extra interest to the race but also appeal to more big name riders who previous didn’t want to risk their Tour de France form – hence Vollering’s participation this year.
2. Demi Vollering eyeing elite club
Speaking of Vollering, she’s returning to the race for the first time since 2021, when she finished third behind Anna van der Breggen and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. The Dutch star has already won La Vuelta Femenina and the Tour de France Femmes, so a win here would complete her Grand Tour set, making her the second rider to do so after Annemiek van Vleuten.
3. There’s a mountain time-trial
Before the peloton hits the mountains, they first encounter the time-trial on Stage 4. A race against the clock isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but this one is uphill for almost 11km, so won’t disadvantage riders who haven’t nailed their aero setups.
Aerodynamics will be called upon for the opening 5km, but the 10% average gradient for the following 4.4km will likely take time-trial bikes off the table, with 1.5km at 6.4% following that before a softer final 1.4km to the finish.
There’s nowhere to hide on a stage like this, and it should set the GC up for the massive mountain test on the horizon.
4. The Colle delle Finestre looms
Stage 8 is an absolute corker. The peloton will spend 55km in the saddle warming up before the race explodes on the Colle delle Finestre for the same climax as the men’s Giro in 2025 when Simon Yates won in ultra-dramatic fashion.
Stretching to 18.5km in length, the first 10.5km of the Finestre is spent on paves roads before the final 8km throws riders onto the gravel for maximum difficulty. From the top, riders will descend before heading up the much-less brutal climb to the finish in Sestriere.
Expect drama, expect pain, expect brilliant bike racing.
5. Podium fight should be exciting
It’s not just the Vollering show. There are a whole host of riders waiting in the wings for a podium at this Giro. Last year’s winner Elisa Longo Borghini will be dreaming of a three-peat, while last year’s runner-up Marlen Reusser will also be here after nearly two months away having fractured a vertebra at a crash at the Tour of Flanders.
Anna van der Breggen was one of two Dutch riders (the other being Van Vleuten, of course) to dominate the race in the 2010s with four victories to her name. After coming out of retirement last year, she raced to sixth place overall and arrives off the back of a second place at the Vuelta.
French rising star Marion Bunel could put her experience on the Finestre to good use having won on the climb at the 2024 Tour de l’Avenir, and she’s riding strong this season, finishing on the podium at the Vuelta earlier this month. It could be a great showdown in the young rider classification between Bunel and Lidl-Trek’s Isabella Holmgrem. The pair faced off at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes in 2024 and 2025, with Bunel taking the first by around two minutes and Holmgren taking the second by around two minutes.
Other riders to keep an eye out for include Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto), Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Suez). While Dickson will likely primarily be working for Vollering, she could well ride to a strong GC placing herself once Vollering takes off on her inevitable Finestre attack.
6. The return of Marlen Reusser
The Giro sees the return of Marlen Reusser, who won Dwars door Vlaanderen in April but crashed out of the Tour of Flanders and sustained a fractured vertebra.
Reusser was on fire here last year, wearing the maglia rosa following her time-trial victory on the opening day, briefly dropping down to second but regaining the lead on Stage 4. She then had to push herself to the absolute limit fighting through sickness and incredibly managed to hold on to second overall. If she can stay healthy she could be a real threat to Vollering.
7. A host of sprinting talent
There are plenty of opportunities for the sprinters in this race, including the opening stage, meaning a sprinter will almost certainly wear the first pink jersey. In fact the first three stages will likely be sprints, although the third does have a tricky climb at 18km to go, as will Stage 6, so there’s no surprise the start list includes the peloton’s very best sprinting talent.
Lorena Wiebes is undoubtably the name to beat, the 27-year-old is utterly dominant in the sprints with ten victories already this season and could well win all four of those stages.
Attempting to wobble the Wiebes wagon will be: Chiara Consonni (Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto), who has twice been best of the rest behind Wiebes this season at the UAE Tour and Vuelta a Burgos; Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech), who has been on a roll lately with back-to-back victories and triumphed at the unofficial sprinting World Championships Scheldeprijs; Irish rising star Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ), who has second places to Wiebes at the UAE Tour, victory at Le Samyn and a podium at Nokere Koerse to her name; Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), who has been hit and miss this season but finished second behind Wiebes on a stage of the Vuelta a Burgos; Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez), who finished behind Balsamo in that Burgos sprint; and Brit Cat Ferguson (Movistar), who has picked up three victories in a sprint in Spain and notably raced to fourth at Omloop Nieuwsblad and will be hoping the climb at the end of Stage 3 sends the pure sprinters packing.