Contenders preview: The most hotly contested Giro the pink jersey has seen in years

Cor Vos

The turnaround from the Spanish block of racing, including the Vuelta Femenina, to the Giro d'Italia this year has shaken up the calendar and opened the door for more of the top riders to target the pink jersey. The last couple of editions have been fantastic, with Elisa Longo Borghini and Lotte Kopecky duelling for the win in 2024 and then Longo Borghini going up against Marlen Reusser last year, but until now, the race's proximity to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has meant that a handful of top GC contenders have skipped the Italian stage race.

This year, we've got Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering added to the mix, plus Antonia Niedermaier, Niamh Fisher-Black, Isabella Holmgren, Monica Trinca Colonel, Marion Bunel ... the list is long.

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Among the favourites, a few stand out, but with a lot of climbing to cover during the nine stages of the Giro, and some coming in with unknown form, we're in for a very exciting battle.

The overall classification this year could also see the pink jersey change hands almost daily. In 2024, even though the race between Longo Borghini and Kopecky came down to only one second going into the final stage, the Italian wore the leader's jersey for the whole week after winning the opening time trial. Last year, Reusser wore the jersey until Anna Henderson borrowed it for a stage, and eventually Longo Borghini took it from Reusser for good on stage 7.

This year, with wide-open stages in the first three days, we could see a variety of teams embrace pink, at least until the time trial on stage 4. After that, most of the biggest names in women's cycling will be scrambling to claim the prize. What's more, the abundance of sprinter-friendly stages in the Giro, and lack of in the Tour, means that some teams have leaned heavily into their fastest riders, so the list of contenders for the flatter stages is as long as the overall. That said, they will have to get around Lorena Wiebes if they're to take any victories.

Preview: A stage-by-stage look at the 2026 women’s Giro d’ItaliaWith three sprint days, an uphill ITT, and at least two other GC stages, this year’s Giro route has a little bit of everything.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

The Escape Collective GC star ratings:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Anna van der Breggen, Marlen Reusser, Marion Bunel ⭐️⭐️⭐️: Antonia Niedermaier, Niamh Fisher-Black, Isabella Holmgren ⭐️⭐️: Urška Žigart, Femke de Vries ⭐️: Magdeleine Vallieres, Monica Trinca Colonel, Mireia Benito, Barbara Malcotti, Lauren Dickson

The full startlist is available here.

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