Giro d'Italia Women 2020
11.09-19.09
The Giro d’Italia Women is one of the most historic and prestigious stage races in women’s cycling. First held in 1988, it has long stood as the sport’s premier Grand Tour. Following recent rebranding and renewed investment, the race returns in 2025 as a key fixture on the UCI Women’s WorldTour. With the iconic maglia rosa at stake, the Giro d’Italia Women remains one of the most respected races in the sport.
The Giro d’Italia Women (formerly known as Giro Rosa) is the longest-running women’s stage race in professional cycling, with its inaugural edition held in 1988. For decades it has been regarded as the pinnacle of women’s road stage racing - often dubbed a “Grand Tour” equivalent -and has played a pivotal role in promoting women’s cycling on the world stage. Below, we explore the race’s origins, evolution, key developments, and its modern resurgence under the iconic Maglia Rosa (pink jersey) of the leader.
History and significance of the Giro d’Italia Women
The women’s Giro d’Italia was born in 1988 under the name Giro d’Italia Femminile, marking a milestone by providing Italy with its own multi-stage tour for women. Italian veteran Maria Canins – already a two-time Tour de France Féminin champion – won that first edition, signaling the event’s high competitive level from the start. Early editions, however, received limited media coverage; as Global Cycling Network noted, “how little we actually know” about those first years. This lack of exposure reflected the broader struggle for attention that women’s cycling faced in the 1980s and 90s.
Despite these challenges, the Giro quickly established itself as a marquee event. It became the second most important women’s race in Italy (after the one-day Trofeo Alfredo Binda) during its early years. By the mid-1990s, the race was flourishing, highlighted by the dominance of local hero Fabiana Luperini. Luperini won four consecutive editions from 1995 to 1998 –-a remarkable feat that cemented the Giro’s reputation - and even returned to win again in 2008, a decade after her previous victory. Such performances by top riders helped validate the Giro d’Italia Women as a premier contest and inspired a new generation of female cyclists.
Rise and challenges
Entering the 2000s, the Giro d’Italia Femminile (as it was then known) grew in ambition – at one point expanding to 13 stages – even as rival events in women’s stage racing struggled to survive. When the Grande Boucle Féminine (a women’s Tour de France) and the Tour de l’Aude were canceled around 2009-2010 due to financial difficulties, the Giro became the only major multi-stage “Grand Tour” left for women. This elevated its importance, effectively making the Giro Rosa (its post-2013 name) the lone standard-bearer of women’s stage racing tradition in that era.
Maintaining the race, however, was not without difficulty. In late 2012 the event’s future was thrown into doubt when the longtime organizer withdrew, putting the 2013 edition at risk. A rescue effort succeeded: new organizers rebranded the race as the “Giro Rosa” in 2013 (with a shortened eight-day format that year) to keep it alive. The following year it returned to its traditional 10-day length, and by 2016 the Giro Rosa was included in the inaugural UCI Women’s World Tour - a boost that affirmed its elite status in global cycling.
Throughout the late 2010s, the Giro Rosa continued to showcase fierce competition, often dominated by a wave of Dutch superstars. Annemiek van Vleuten, for example, claimed four overall victories in this period. Yet the event still struggled for visibility, often being overshadowed by the men’s Tour de France which ran in parallel on the calendar. This tension peaked in 2020 when the lack of live television coverage for the women’s Giro prompted the UCI to revoke its WorldTour status for 2021.
The demotion to second-tier (UCI ProSeries) was met with widespread criticism as fans and teams decried the lack of support for the sport’s marquee women’s race. In response, organizers vowed improvements: for 2022 they secured live broadcasts (on Eurosport and RAI) and significantly increased the prize money, steps that saw the Giro immediately regain its WorldTour status. These measures were crucial in restoring credibility and underscored the ongoing push for equality in race coverage and rewards.
A new era for the Maglia Rosa
In the mid-2020s, the Giro d’Italia Women entered a new chapter defined by greater professionalism and integration with men’s cycling. From 2024, the renowned organizers of the men’s Giro (RCS Sport) took over operation of the women’s race, signing a four-year agreement and officially rebranding it as the Giro d’Italia Women. This development promised increased resources, better marketing, and more stable management, heralding a new era for the event. The iconic Maglia Rosa - the pink jersey worn by the race leader, mirroring the tradition of the men’s Giro - remains at the heart of the competition and a symbol of its prestige.
With improved television coverage and higher investment, today’s Giro d’Italia Women stands proudly alongside the new Tour de France Femmes and the revamped La Vuelta España Femenina as one of the three Grand Tour equivalents in women’s cycling. This renaissance not only celebrates the race’s rich history but also highlights its evolving role in a more equitable and dynamic future for the sport. The Giro’s journey from a humble 1988 beginning to its current stature underscores its significance: it has been, and continues to be, a cornerstone of women’s professional cycling and a beacon for the growth of the sport.
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Riders
- Tadej Pogacar
- Demi Vollering
- Matthieu van der Poel
- Lotte Kopecky
- Wout van Aert
- Katarzyna Niewiadoma
- Remco Evenepoel
- Juliette Labous
- Jonas Vingegaard
- Marianne Vos
- Jasper Phillipsen
- Lorena Wiebes
- Primoz Roglic
- Elisa Longo Borghini
- Mads Pedersen
- Kristen Faulkner
- Matteo Jorgensen
- Chloé Dygert
- Jonathan Milan
- Egan Bernal
- Pauline Ferrand-Prevot
- Juan Ayuso
- Puck Pieterse
- Isaac del Toro
- Liane Lippert
- Mads Pedersen
Races
- Tour de France
- Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift
- Giro d’Italia
- Giro Donne
- Vuelta a España
- Vuelta a España Feminina
- Paris-Nice
- Tirreno-Adriatico
- Milano-San Remo
- Sanremo Women
- Strade Bianche
- Strade Bianche Women
- Tour of Flanders
- Tour of Flanders Women
- Paris-Roubaix
- Paris-Roubaix Femmes
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
- Critérium de Dauphiné
- Il Lombardia
Teams
- UAE Team Emirates-XRG
- Team SD Worx - Protime
- Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
- CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women
- FDJ - SUEZ
- Soudal Quick-Step
- Movistar Team
- INEOS Grenadiers
- EF Education - EasyPost
- LIDL - Trek
- LIDL - Trek Women
- Bahrain - Victorious
- Team Picnic PostNL
- Alpecin - Deceuninck
- Uno-X Mobility
- Team Jayco AlUla
- XDS Astana Team
- Fenix-Deceuninck
- Ruud Dimmers
- Rudy Kappert
- Rob Peters
- Sjoerd van Oosten
- Ivo Willekens
- Lennart Boven
- Gijs Moonen
- Dennis Vandewalle
- Tim Claes
- Vegar Kulset
- Bram van der Leij
- Matthias Socker
- Karolína Vyskočilová
- Jeff Betts
- Bram Wulteputte
- Jakob Coleman
- Koos de Boer
- Jens van Hulle
- Jan de Vries
- Martin Lehovec
- Marc Frei
- Katelyn Stevens
- Kristen Greenland
- Dane Hamann
- Michiel Deseyn
- Rafael Santos
- Josse Deboiserie
- Matteo Arosio
- Charlotta Wallensten
- Quinten Lucq
- Gisela Kunz
- Arthur Chrispin
- Laura Roberts
- Jorik Tilstra
- Fabian Deleersnyder
- Max Zulauf
- Kjell Crauwels
- Francesca Gallione
- Tonke van den Berg
- Alex Taylor
- Bart Thys
- Kenneth Thuy
- Josh Sakofsky
- Daniel Nimpfer
- Jolien Vermeulen
- Joe Morgan
- Sravan Pannala
- Graham Denny
- Thomas Huyghe
- Stephan Kehr
- Martin Hickman
- Jeroen Sneyers
- Jim Naughton
- Eric Secember
- Katy
- Florian Aussieker
- Kate Veronneau
- Bryan Alberts
- Wouter ter Halle
- Dirk Spits
- Guido Gelman
- Tom Dijkerman
- Ethan Lessiter
- Joao Galveia
- Koen van der Zwet
- Bart van Vegchel
- Jens Van Hulle
- Simon Dalsgaard
- Ilkka Holma
- Ghislain Hofman
- Harry Talbot
- Andre Cunha
- Erik Bulckens
- Jennifer Treptow
- Jiri Zakravsky
- Jorge Serrano Barthe
- Eddy van der Mark
- Lynda Bowers
- Michelle Baxter
- Johan Ståhlbom
- Darrell Dilley
- William Burns
- Berten van Herp
- Keith Blackwood
- Peter Eastaugh
- Aaron Borrill
- Pete Stanton
- Shawn F.