The organisers of what is currently the second largest stage race in women's cycling can look forward to a strong line-up. The Dutch team SD Worx-Protime has entered Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen for the Giro d'Italia Women (6 to 13 July 2025). The 35-year-old Dutchwoman only returned to the saddle at the start of the season after a three-year break and showed at the Tour of Spain with a stage win and third place overall that she is once again part of the world elite in the difficult tours. "We are starting without any great ambitions in the overall classification, but if we manage to achieve a good starting position, we will of course not give away any opportunities," says the team's sporting director, Danny Stam.
Preparatory race for Kopecky
Belgian rider Lotte Kopecky, who recently won the world road race title twice, is expected to use the race in Italy as preparation for the Tour de France Femmes (26 July to 3 August 2025). Last year, the Belgian finished second overall behind Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini. "The overall classification in France is her big goal. The Giro is a great race on her way to top form in the Tour," emphasised Stam. Lorena Wiebes, currently the fastest sprinter in the peloton, is expected to take stage wins on the flat stages. The team is completed by Mikayla Harvey from New Zealand, long-time Swiss mountain biker Steffi Häberlin and the two Italians Elena Cecchini and Barbara Guarischi.
The Giro: Eight stages
In recent decades, the Giro d'Italia was the longest and most challenging stage race in women's cycling - until the French race organiser ASO started a Tour de France for women again in 2020. This year's Giro has eight stages. The race starts with a 14.2 kilometre individual time trial in Bergamo. The stages with mountain finishes in Pianezze in the Alps and on Monte Nerone in the Apennines are likely to be decisive, before the tour ends with a hilly stage to Imola.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
