Giro d'Italia Women
The 2026 Giro d'Italia Women marks a historic shift in the calendar, moving to May to align with the final week of the men's race. This edition expands to nine stages and introduces the legendary Colle delle Finestre, complete with its iconic gravel sections, providing a definitive Alpine test to determine the maglia rosa.
Giro d'Italia Women 2026 route
The 2026 Giro d'Italia Women runs from 30 May to 7 June, nine stages and 1,177km that climb a total of 14,500m. The opening days hug the Adriatic coast and the Veneto plains for the sprinters, but the race is built around its mountains: an uphill time trial to Nevegal, a double cat 1 Dolomite stage, and a closing weekend that crosses the Colle delle Finestre on gravel before a summit finish at Sestriere. This is a race where the GC battle will be back-ended, and it will make for a thrilling finale.
Key climbs and the queen stage
The defining day is Stage 8 to Sestriere, just 106 km but 2,806 m of climbing over the legendary Colle delle Finestre (18.5 km at 9.1%), the kind of ascent that tears a general classification apart. It sits between two more mountain tests: Stage 5 from Longarone to Santo Stefano di Cadore packs 3,222 m of climbing across the Passo Tre Croci (7.9 km at 7.4%) and Passo di Sant'Antonio (8.3 km at 7.6%), while the Stage 9 finale around Saluzzo takes on the steep Montoso (8.9 km at 9.4%). Add the Stage 4 uphill time trial to Nevegal (11 km at 6.4%) and the climbers have four clear chances to take time.
Stage by stage
Stages 1 and 2 along the coast should end in bunch sprints before the hills of Stage 3 to Buja and the Nevegal time trial begin to sort the favourites. The Dolomite double of Stages 5 and 8 is where the race is won, with a sprinters' reprieve on Stage 6 and a punchy Stage 7 to Salice Terme in between, before the climbers settle it on the final weekend. For stage profiles, timings and predictions for all nine stages, read our Giro d'Italia Women 2026 stage guide.