The Giro d’Italia Women is an annual women's cycle stage race around Italy. First held in 1988, the race is currently part of the UCI Women's World Tour, and is currently organised by RCS Sport, the organisers of the men's Giro d'Italia. The race was initially branded as the Giro d'Italia Femminile from its inaugural edition to 2008, Giro Donne in 2009, Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile from 2010 to 2021, Giro d'Italia Donne in 2022 and 2023, and Giro d'Italia Women since 2024.
The race is "one of the longest and most demanding" races in women's road cycling, with editions featuring ascents of mountain passes as well as individual or team time trials. Some teams and media have referred to the race as a 'Grand Tour'. However, the race does not meet the UCI definition of such an event. It has generally held over eight to ten days in early July each year. The race is owned by the Italian Cycling Federation, with organisation of the race outsourced.
The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the general classification and wears the pink jersey. While the general classification gathers the most attention, there are other contests held within the Giro: the points classification for the sprinters, the mountains classification for the climbers and young rider classification for the riders under the age of 23. Achieving a stage win also provides prestige, often accomplished by a team's sprint specialist or a rider taking part in a breakaway.
The men's Giro d'Italia cycling race was first held in 1909, and is considered the second most important cycling race in the world. The women's Giro d'Italia was first held in 1988 as the Giro d'Italia Femminile. The first edition in 1988 was won by two-time Tour de France Feminin winner Maria Canins from Italy.
Global Cycling Network notes "how little we actually know" about early editions of the women's Giro, with no information about stage winners. The race was the second biggest women's race in Italy, behind the long running Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio. In the 1990s, the race was dominated by Italian rider Fabiana Luperini, who won 4 editions of the race between 1995 and 1998, winning 13 stages in the process. Luperini later won the 2008 edition of the race, 10 years after her last victory.
In the 2000s, the race grew to 13 stages in length before falling back to 9 stages. Other big races like Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale and Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin were cancelled due to financial difficulties in 2009 and 2010 respectively, leaving the Giro Donne as the only 'Grand Tour' left in women's cycling after 2010.
In December 2012 it was reported that the company Epinike had withdrawn as Giro Donne organiser, making the 2013 edition uncertain. In April 2013, however, organisers announced they had rebranded the race as the Giro Rosa, taking place over eight days. It returned to its traditional ten-day length the following year. In 2016, the race became part of the new UCI Women's World Tour, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
In the 2010s and early 2020s, the race was dominated by Dutch riders, with Marianne Vos winning the race three times, and Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen both winning the race four times. In 2021, the race lost its World Tour status due to the lack of live television coverage during the 2020 edition of the race. The decision to downgrade the race to the UCI ProSeries was met with criticism. The race used the Giro d'Italia Donne name in 2021, before returning to Giro Donne in 2022. The race returned to World Tour level in 2022, following promises of live television coverage on Eurosport and Rai Sport. The prize money was also increased to €250,000, with €50,000 for the winner of the general classification. The organisation of the 2023 edition of the race was criticised, with information about the route and riders not available until the last minute.
From 2024, the race will be organised by the men's Giro d'Italia organiser RCS Sport on a four-year contract. The 2024 edition of the race was rebranded to Giro d'Italia Women. In 2024, Elisa Longo Borghini became the first Italian rider to win the race for 16 years, before winning for the second time in succession in 2025.
From 2026, the race will move to June rather than its traditional July date – starting on the same weekend as the finish of the men's race. The race previously had to compete for attention with the more famous men's Tour de France, and organisers stated that they wished to work with the UCI to move the calendar position of the race, so that the race is not overshadowed. The UCI will also award more ranking points to Giro d'Italia Women, Tour de France Femmes and the Vuelta Femenina compared to other races in the UCI Women's World Tour – elevating the three races in status.
Course
Generally held over eight to ten stages, the route of the race changes year to year with ascents of mountain passes as well as individual or team time trials. One of the longest races in women's professional cycling, the course averaged 975km (606mi) in length between 2016 and 2026. Between 2014 and 2025, the first stage of the race was a team time trial or a short prologue time trial. From 2024, the rider who passes the highest climb of the race first is awarded the "Cima Alfonsina Strada" – a prize named after Italian cyclist Alfonsina Strada, who took part in the men's Giro d’Italia in 1924. Famous climbs visited by the race include Zoncolan, Mortirolo, Passo de Stelvio and Blockhaus.
In 2015, the first two days took place in Slovenia, with a prologue and a sprint stage. In 2022 and 2023, the race visited Sardinia.
The Giro Donne awards a number of jerseys for winners of certain classifications – the current competitions that award a jersey are:
( from 1988 to 2023, in 2012) Points classification, for the rider with the most points as awarded by finishing positions on stages and the first riders to go through intermediate sprints. Recently, the winner wears the maglia rossa (red jersey).
( from 1988 to 2023) Mountains classification, for the rider awarded the most points for crossing designated climbs, generally at the peaks of hills and mountains. The winner wears the maglia azzurra (blue jersey).
Young rider classification, for the fastest rider under the age of 25 to complete the race. The winner wears the maglia bianca (white jersey).
Between 2010 and 2023, the maglia azzurra (blue jersey) was awarded to the fastest Italian rider to complete the race. In 2006, the young riders classification was not run, instead a sprints competition was won by Olga Slyusareva (RUS) and awarded the blue jersey.
↑The 2001 race win was originally awarded to BelarusianZinaida Stahurskaya, but she failed a doping control during the race and was stripped of the title nearly a year later
↑The race was originally planned to be 918.3km (570.6mi) in length, but due to landslides stage 5 had to be shortened and rerouted.
↑Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 edition was rescheduled to September and shortened from 10 to 9 stages.
↑Mitchell, Mathew (22 December 2025). "Guide to the 2026 Women's WorldTour: races, teams and points". ProCyclingUK. Retrieved 30 January 2026. The Giro d'Italia Women, in particular, remains a benchmark. It is one of the longest and most demanding events on the calendar, and performances there are often used as a shorthand for overall capability
↑Goldman, Tom (22 July 2022). "After more than 30 years, a multiday women's Tour de France is back". NPR.org. Retrieved 4 August 2022. After the Tour de France femmes avec Zwift announced its record $250,000 purse, another women's grand tour event, the Giro d'Italia Donne, matched the Tour's prize money amount.
↑Rogers, Owen (10 July 2022). "Rome the target for 2023 Giro Donne 'grande partenza'". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 23 June 2023. Organisers confirm they are working with the UCI to ensure the race does not clash with the men's Tour de France
↑"Giro d'Italia Women 2024: the route has been announced". www.giroditaliawomen.it. Retrieved 31 January 2024. Blockhaus is the 'Cima Alfonsina Strada', the highest peak of the race, established in memory of the cyclist who took part in the men's Giro d'Italia in 1924.
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Maria Canins (ITA)
Demi Vollering (NED)
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