The Italian Giro Rosa is the longest and most prestigious cycling stage race on the Women’s World Tour calendar.
2018 Amy Gillett Cycling Scholarship recipient and British UCI team Wiggle High5 cyclist, Grace Brown, shares her insights on the upcoming race.
The Giro Rosa has a reputation for gruelling terrain and exciting competition, where the top female cyclists in the world battle it out to win the maglia rosa.
This year presents 10 race days in northern Italy, from July 6 to 15. The stages include races against the clock (individual and team time trials), flat courses for the sprinters, and uphill finishes for the climbers.
There are a number of defining stages where the tour is likely to be won or lost. Firstly, the teams who are able to get a good result in the stage 1 team time trial (TTT) will give their General Classification (GC) contenders a time advantage and relieve pressure in the following stages.
There are two important uphill finishes. Firstly stage 6 and then stage 9, which will finish atop the famous Monte Zoncolon; a category 1 climb which rises 1,200m in only 10 km and has pinches as steep as 22%. This will surely see significant time gaps form between the GC riders. The stage 7 uphill individual time trial will also be a decisive day.
Stage 1 | Fri July 6th | 15.5 km TTT |
Stage 2 | Sat July 7th | 120.4 km hills with flat finish |
Stage 3 | Sun July 8th | 132 km flat |
Stage 4 | Mon July 9th | 109 km flat |
Stage 5 | Tue July 10th | 117.7 km hills |
Stage 6 | Wed July 11th | 114.1 km flat with uphill finish |
Stage 7 | Thu July 12th | 15 km ITT uphill |
Stage 8 | Fri July 13th | 121.6 km flat |
Stage 9 | Sat July 14th | 104.7 km flat with uphill finish |
Stage 10 | Sun July 15th | 120.3 km hilly |
The route for the 2018 @GiroRosaCycling was announced yesterday. We can't wait for the fantastic battle this is shaping up to be in northern Italy in July! pic.twitter.com/TAIvQbVKVk
— Boels-Dolmans (@boelsdolmansct) March 27, 2018