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