2027 Giro d’Italia Women route revealed: Tough grand finale in the shadow of Mont Blanc

• From Saturday, May 29 to Sunday, June 6
• From Viareggio to the Aosta Valley over 1,132km
• 1 individual time trial of 11km, uphill
• 3 sprint stages, 2 hilly stages, 3 mountain stages
• 5 regions: Tuscany, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and the Aosta Valley
• 3 uphill finishes
• 17,450 metres of elevation gain in total

The 2027 Giro d’Italia Women will be decided over a final weekend in the Aosta Valley, with an 11km uphill time trial on stage 8 followed by a mountain stage beneath Mont Blanc the next day. Demi Vollering is the defending champion after overturning a 49-second deficit to Anna van der Breggen on the last stage this year, and a route this heavy on climbing should suit her again.

The race also includes summit finishes at Passo della Presolana on stage 4 and Madesimo on stage 6. The latter crosses the Passo San Marco, which at 1,987m is the highest point of the race.

The race starts in Viareggio on Saturday, May 29 and finishes on Sunday, June 6, covering 1,132km over nine stages with no rest day. There are 17,450m of climbing in total, an average of almost 2,000m per day, and no stage is longer than 171km.

RCS has rated two stages five stars for difficulty: the stage to Madesimo and the final day in the Aosta Valley, which has the most climbing of the race at 3,950m.

The time trial is shorter and steeper than the 12.7km mountain test Van der Breggen won in 2026, averaging 4.2% over 11km. Coming the day before the final mountain stage, it will give the climbers little room to recover lost time.

The race opens with a 124km stage around Viareggio, made up of four laps of a circuit that includes the short climb to Pitoro. The final ascent comes 20.9km from the finish, leaving a flat run back to the seafront. Elisa Balsamo, who dominated the sprints and won the points jersey this year, will be favourite for the first maglia rosa if the repeated climbs don’t split the group.

Stage 2 from Massa to Genova follows the coast north into Liguria, with the Passo del Bracco (619m) after 67.3km the main obstacle. San Martino di Noceto comes 27km from the finish, and with 2,100m of climbing in 139km the stage looks better suited to puncheurs and attackers than to the pure sprinters.

The longest stage of the race, 171km from Cogorno to Viadana, begins with the Passo del Bocco (957m) after just 20km. From the summit the route descends through Bedonia and Borgo Val di Taro and crosses the Po plain via Parma, leaving 151km for the sprinters’ teams to bring the race back together.

The first summit finish comes on stage 4 to Passo della Presolana, with 3,500m of climbing in 131km. The Forcellino di Bianzano, the climb to Ganda and the Colle di Zambla (1,257m) come first, before the route descends to Ponte Nossa and passes through Clusone to the foot of the final climb at Rovetta.

The Presolana is 11.6km long at an average of 5.4%. The first 6.5km average only 4%, but the gradient rises to 7.7% through Castione della Presolana, with a maximum of 10% near Donico, before easing towards the summit at 1,279m. It is unlikely to produce big gaps, but it will show who has come to the race in form.

Stage 5 around Cassano d’Adda is the flattest of the race, with only 300m of climbing, and finishes with circuits that pass the line four times before the sprint.

The queen stage follows on stage 6 from Bergamo to Madesimo-Valle Spluga, with 3,550m of climbing in 137km. The Passo San Marco is 19.6km at 7.4% from Olmo al Brembo, but its final 11.6km average 8.8%, with a maximum of 15% near Madonna delle Nevi. After a long descent to Morbegno and 35km along the valley floor to Chiavenna, the final climb to Madesimo is 19.3km at 6.3%. The last 4.5km average 9% before the gradient eases near the finish at 1,535m.

The overall picture should be much clearer after Madesimo, but stage 7 from Carugate to Rho offers a last chance for the sprinters before the Aosta Valley. The only categorised climb is Sirtori after 40.5km, and the route then rolls through Brianza and the province of Como before a gradual run down to the finish.

The Valdigne time trial on stage 8 climbs around 500m over its 11km, with a time check at 5.7km and a maximum gradient of 9%, the race could be decieded here.

The race concludes the following day with four categorised climbs and 3,950m of climbing over 132km. Doues (1,173m) comes first, followed by Verrogne, which is 17.1km long but split in two by a short descent: 7.4km at 7.9% to Lin Noir, then a final 5.6km at 6.9%. Saint-Nicolas follows before the decisive climb of the race.

The Colle San Carlo is 10.5km at an average of 9.8% from Morgex, with a maximum of 15%. The central section, from 1.2km to 7.5km, averages 10.3%. The summit at 1,951m comes 24.9km from the finish, and after the descent the stage ends on a short rise beneath Mont Blanc. This year Vollering won the race by attacking on the final day, and the Colle San Carlo gives her rivals a similar chance in 2027.