Giro d'Italia Women 2026 route features Colle delle Finestre and mountain time trial

The 2026 Giro d’Italia Women will feature the Colle delle Finestre on a demanding penultimate stage to Sestriere. At the route presentation in Rome on Monday, it was also revealed that the Giro will feature an uphill time trial to Nevegal on stage 4.

The Giro Women shifts to an earlier date in 2026 and overlaps with the final weekend of the men’s race for the first time, with the Grande Partenza taking place in Cesenatico on Saturday, May 30.

The opening stage to Ravenna should see a sprinter claim the right to the first maglia rosa of the race. The fast finishers will have more opportunities on stage 2 to Caorle and stage 3 to Buja in Friuli, homeplace of the recently retired Alessandro De Marchi. 

The first pivotal day for the GC contenders is set to come on stage 4, with a mountain time trial from Belluno to Nevegal. The course is the same as the one followed by the men’s Giro in 2011, when Alberto Contador was quickest on the day but later stripped of the win when he was eventually sanctioned for his 2010 positive test for Clenbuterol. The 12.7km course should provoke significant gaps between the favourites.

The rugged terrain continues on stage 5, with the race entering the Dolomites and taking in the Passo Tre Croci on the road to Santo Stefano di Cadore.

A flatter day to Brescello follows before the Giro heads for the gentle hills of the Oltrepo Pavese on stage 7 to Salice Terme.

The tappone of the Giro Women comes on the final weekend, with the 101km leg from Rivoli to Sestriere. The finale of the stage reproduces the terrain that sparked such a dramatic denouement to last year’s men’s Giro, with the sterrato of the Colle delle Finestre bringing the race to 2,172m above sea level. After a fast descent, the race takes in the long but shallow climb to Sestriere for the stage finish. The Giro Women concludes with a hilly stage starting and finishing Saluzzo. 

Home favourite Elisa Longo Borghini won the 2025 edition ahead of Marlen Reusser and Sarah Gigante after seizing the maglia rosa with an attack on Monte Nerone on the penultimate day.

The lack of a flat time trial has already led to speculation in Belgium that Lotte Kopecky – second overall in 2024 – will return for a tilt at the overall title.