Giro d'Italia Women - Stage 1: Wiebes wins - and is disqualified hours later

On the final weekend of the men's Giro d'Italia, the Giro d'Italia Women started at the same time with a flat stage along the Adriatic Sea over 139 kilometres from Cesenatico to Ravenna. The finale took place over several laps on a 13-kilometre course around the finish town - with the expected bunch sprint as the outcome.

Victory went to Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx - Protime), the big favourite in the run-up to the race. Her rivals had no chance against her early start and acceleration. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl - Trek) took second place ahead of Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ).

Wiebes is disqualified a few hours after the end of the race

The normal procedure followed: Winner's interview, jersey ceremony in pink for Wiebes. However, the Dutchwoman will not start the second stage in the leader's jersey. The jury disqualified the Dutch champion a few hours after the end of the race.

Race organiser RCS Sport announced in a press release:

"Lorena Wiebes has been excluded from the Giro d'Italia Women for violating rule 2.12.007 - 2.2: Using a bike that does not comply with the rules, in particular by not complying with the minimum weight requirements"

This means that the leader's jersey goes to the original runner-up, Elisa Balsamo.

Wiebe's team SD Worx - Protime also reacted in a statement, expressing their "astonishment" at the disqualification. According to the racing team, "the bike weighed 6.78 kilograms and therefore did not reach the UCI's minimum weight of 6.8 kilograms".

The Giro d'Italia Women started a month earlier than usual, as the organiser RCS Sport has implemented a new team planning. This is to avoid the overlap with the men's Tour de France and to give the women's Giro more attention.

Giro d'Italia Women 2026 - Results of the 1st stage

How the 1st stage of the Giro d'Italia Women 2026 went

On the first stage, only 240 metres in altitude had to be conquered - there was no mountain classification. A mass arrival was the expected outcome of this stage. Accordingly, any escape attempts were hopeless right from the start.

Nevertheless, after a few kilometres, four Italians - Sharon Spimi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), Valeria Curnis (Isolmat - Premac - Vittoria), Ilaria Marinetto (Team Mendelspeck E-Work) and Sofia Arici (Vini Fantini - BePink) - tried their luck as breakaways. While Marinetto dropped back early on, the other three riders built up an interim lead of around four minutes. In the peloton, Team SD Worx - Protime and UAE Team ADQ coordinated the chase.

A mass crash on the road led to Car Ferguson (Movistar Team) retiring early. Overall, there were several crashes during the stage.

With 50 kilometres to go, the peloton caught up with the three breakaway riders. In the meantime, Team Lidl-Trek also took part in the pace work. With the prospect of a bunch sprint and the first pink jersey of the tour, the race became extremely hectic in the finale, especially in the final kilometres. However, there were no further crashes. Lorena Wiebes then proved to be unbeatable in the bunch sprint.