2025 Giro d'Italia Women - Stage-by-stage-guide

The 36th edition of the Giro d’Italia Women begins with an individual time trial in Bergamo on Sunday, 6 July, and concludes 939.6 kilometres and a week later on stage 8 in Imola, Sunday, 13 July. It’s set to be another competitive eight days of racing, just like twelve months ago when Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) became champion ahead of Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto).

Here is an early look at the eight stages that make up the 2025 route, featuring an individual time trial, one flat stage, four hilly stages and two mountain stages.

The curtain raiser of the 36th Giro d’Italia Women is a 13.6 kilometre individual time trial around the city of Bergamo in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Marianne Vos was the winner when the race last had a stage finish in Bergamo on stage 5 in 2022.

Since 2014, the race has begun with a race against the clock in one shape or another, and since 2021, this has been in the form of an individual time trial or prologue. We have seen as recently as last year how hotly contested the fight for pink on the opening stage is, when Elisa Longo Borghini claimed the victory in Brescia, with Grace Brown finishing on the same time as the Italian in the race against the clock. Longo Borghini would carry the pink jersey the whole way through the race. Could we see a similar story this time around?

Speaking in terms of the parcours of the time trial, it’s a pretty technical affair, as urban circuits typically are. Expect a fast, technical start on wide, straight roads punctuated by sharp U-turns and sweeping curves. The riders will navigate their way towards the city centre, taking on a short ascent near the historic upper town before descending towards the finish line along the iconic Sentierone, a historical meeting point for Bergamo Citizens.

Despite being the shortest road stage of the race, at just shy of 100 kilometres, this is a day which will play an important role in weeding out the GC pretenders and finding any early weaknesses in their form. As the official race website suggests, this is a stage of two halves. Starting in Clusone, considered one of 'I Borghi più belli d’Italia' (“The most beautiful villages of Italy”), the stage descends into Lovere before gentle flat roads predominantly characterise the majority of this route.

That is, until the road begins to gradually traverse upwards as the race heads to Aprica for the finale of stage 2. Technically, a summit finish, the climbing can be broken into different sections. Described by the official race website as a largely straightforward stage with no major challenges, even the climb to Aprica is pretty tame by Giro standards. It’s quite a long section of climbing to the finish; however, due to its gradual nature, the gradients are largely shallow. This is except for a short, punchy climb around Santicolo, which is buried within the long, gradual ascent to Aprica. If attacks are to be successful, this section of the climb could be crucial. The altitude shouldn’t be consequential as the stage finishes around 1,200 metres above sea level.

When Aprica last hosted a stage finish at the Giro d’Italia Women on stage 5 in 2015, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was victorious in the rainbow bands. Whilst this is the first of three summit finishes in the race, it's the least demanding meaning that a bigger group could still come to the finish line. 

Despite the presence of a first-category climb, this stage is a perfect chance for the sprinters to finally make their mark. This is because the majority of the stage’s 1,400-plus metres of vertical gain come in the first 20 kilometres of stage 3 on the slopes of the Passo del Tonale.

Starting in Vezza d’Olio, the peloton will be climbing shortly after the 10 kilometres up the Passo del Tonale, which recently featured in stage 17 of the men’s Giro d’Italia, which was won by Isaac del Toro. The start town of Vezza d’Olio featured as an intermediate sprint host in that stage too. There should be a competitive fight to get into the breakaway on the 8.4 kilometre slopes at 6.2% due to the lucrative amount of points on offer for the mountains classification at the top of this first-category test. The climb’s summit with 105 kilometres remaining marks the end of any significant climbing on stage 3, barring some undulations on the road to the finish in Trento.

Trento also hosted the 2021 UEC European road championships. Ellen van Dijk was the winner of the elite women’s race, winning solo. The race organisers aren’t expecting as attritional a race as in 2021, as stage 3 has been marked into the technical guide as the first sprint of this Giro. This is a stage that the European champion, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), will have circled as a perfect opportunity to get off the mark.

Stage 4 presents the second summit finish of the Giro at Pianezze. Beginning in Castello Tesino, which boasts some of the largest woods in the Trentino region, the stage heads east on the quest to Pianezze.

There’s hardly a metre of flat throughout the day, as the riders contend with what can be best described as lumpy terrain. The road is either rising uphill or snaking downhill, but rarely in a significant manner in either way, in the early phase of the stage. Three categorised climbs are on the menu: Cugnan, Muro di Ca’ del Poggio, and Santo Stefano.

Whilst these climbs will help build fatigue in the riders’ legs, stage 4 is set for an ultimate showdown on the slopes up to Pianezze (Valdobbiadene), the first major summit finish of the race. Unlike Stage 2’s finish to Aprica, this climb is consistently steep over its 11.2-kilometre-long slopes, averaging 7%. There is nowhere to hide on a mountain of this magnitude, meaning that stage 4 is primed to significantly impact the general classification. Former world champion Diana Žiliūtė won two stages in consecutive years at this race (2000-2001), which finished atop Pianezze.

Sprinters rejoice! This is the flattest road stage of the Giro d’Italia Women since stage 4 of the 2017 edition. Across 108 kilometres, there are less than 150 metres of elevation gain for the riders to contend with. Therefore, the biggest obstacle to the sprinters on this stage won’t be any climbing, but rather the standard traffic obstacles in the finale.

Despite the flat nature of the route, there are no guarantees that this will be a straightforward stage. If anything, the riders should be on high alert as the speeds will be significant in the finale and due to the flat roads, more teams than usual will feel as though they can fight for the front positions in the chaotic sprint train positioning in the final couple of kilometres. The GC contenders will also need to be well-positioned and supported by their teammates to avoid incident or accident, however, this will only add to the tension and fight for position on the run-in to Monselice.

The final curtain of stage 5 will take place on a 16.4 kilometre circuit, which is entirely flat on wide roads at the foot of the Euganean Hills. With what’s to come on the following three stages, the sprinters will have to make this day count, and this could lead to a blockbuster sprint finish in the heart of Monselice.

After the flattest stage of the race, the Giro reverts to type with another punchy stage across 144 kilometres and features over 2,400 metres of climbing, including four categorised climbs. This is a great opportunity for a breakaway to succeed, considering the difficult summit finish on stage 7 that follows. That’s not to say that there won’t be GC action on this stage, because it’s perfect for attacking racing.

The start of the stage is flat, but this isn’t a consistent theme throughout the day, as stage 6 forays into foreign territory, climbing briefly into San Marino, the landlocked country by Italy, on the slopes of the first categorised climb of the stage. Over the summit of the 2nd category climb, the road continues to rise with a false flat section before descending towards Morciano di Romagna. From this point onwards, there are few flat kilometres, as the punchy nature of the stage comes to the fore. The Monteciccardo and Beato Sante climbs are both ranked as 3rd category and come with over 40 kilometres remaining, meaning that the major attacks may be held off until the uncategorised steep ramps and final climb just before the finish.

Inside the final 40 kilometres, the race passes through Saltara, Schieppe, and the short, sharp climb of Villa del Monte, which averages 11.1% for a kilometre. Less than 10 kilometres after the summit of this climb, the riders will get a first look at the finish line in Terre Roveresche before concluding with a 15 kilometre circuit which features more climbing on the steep Mondavio, and makes up part of the final climb towards the finish. It’s a climb which isn’t consistent, as there are flat and even some downhill sections in it, meaning that if any versatile sprinters have survived, they stand a great chance of victory.

We have arrived at the Queen stage of this year’s race, with this 157 kilometre mountainous affair that finishes atop the mighty Monte Nerone. Even though there are only 4 officially categorised climbs across the stage, the route is relentless with the amount of climbing that the riders have to contend with. In total, the route reaches nearly 3,800 metres of elevation gain on

The start of the stage begins in Fermignano and leads to Apecchio and the base of Monte Nerone, where the first section is tackled up to Pian di Trebbio (7km at 5%). However, the riders won’t climb any higher just yet and this is to be saved for the finale, and so the route descends to Pianello where a series of three categorised climbs within 40 kilometres of each other await: Moria (2.4km at 9%), Passo La Croce (5.8km at 4.7%), and Valico di Fonte Avellana (3.2km at 7.4%). It would be a surprise to see riders who are high in the general classification suffering or distanced before the race even reaches the foot of the Monte Nerone based on this portion of the stage. The summit of the Fonte Avellana comes with over 50 kilometres remaining, meaning that any riders who have been distanced have time to return to the peloton before the almighty battle that is set to take place on the slopes of Monte Nerone.

After already climbing the lower slopes to Pian di Trebbio at the start of the stage, the riders should be able to find a consistent rhythm on the lower slopes. That is, until they reach Pian di Trebbio, as the climb only gets more difficult from here on in. In total, the Monte Nerone is 14.6 kilometres and averages 6.6%, but the section up to Pian di Trebbio skews the average gradient slightly, as the final 8 kilometres are the steepest, averaging over 8% and remain unrelenting to the finish line. Whoever conquers the Monte Nerone has a very good chance of becoming the 2025 Giro champion just over 24 hours later in Imola.

Ina-Yoko Teutenberg was the winner the last time that Forlì was a host city at the Giro d’Italia Women back in 2011, one of thirteen Giro stage wins for the German great who now serves as head director for Lidl-Trek. On that occasion, the stage finished in Forlì, but this year, the city will serve as the start host for the hilly climax to the 2025 Giro d’Italia women.

The route features the 2020 UCI World Championship circuit, where Anna van der Breggen claimed the rainbow bands for the second time, and will be tackled four times in this stage. It’s an unforgiving circuit and features two difficult climbs: Mazzolano, 2.1 kilometres at 7.3%, and the Cima Gallisterna, which is 2.6 kilometres at 6.8% with gradients reaching over 11%. Both climbs are certainly difficult enough to make a significant difference, and especially considering that each will be ascended on three and four occasions, respectively.

The final summit of the Cima Gallisterna comes with 11 kilometres remaining, and with the fast finish into Imola, it’s very possible that if there is a rider solo at the crest, they can likely hold on until the finish. Equally, if there is still a group of riders together at the summit, the remaining 11 kilometres provide plenty of opportunities for tactical racing, and a late attack could prove decisive. Regardless of how the stage is won, this punchy route is made for exciting, aggressive racing and should serve as the setting for an epic day of racing that will decide who wins the 2025 Giro d’Italia Women.