After three stages that largely suited the sprinters, the Giro d’Italia Women takes a sharp turn toward the general classification on Tuesday with a 12.7-km uphill time trial from Belluno to Nevegal.
It could very well be a great day for Oro-Medonte, Ont.’s multidisciplined star Isabella Holmgren. She’s already shown that she is becoming one of the top climbers on the road—at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, she rode with the best, finishing sixth.
And as far as uphill TTs go, she’s won twice, the first in the prologue at the 2025 Tour de l’Avenir, which wasn’t especially hilly, and then she dominated the proper hill-climb test on the final stage to La Rosière.
The course
The route begins with a short descent out of Belluno before riders cross the Piave River and start the long climb toward the finish. The final kilometres are where the real damage can be done, with steep gradients that will quickly expose any weakness.
Of course, Demi Vollering enters the stage as the rider to beat. The Dutch star combines elite climbing ability with a strong time trial engine, making this course almost tailor-made for her. World time trial champion Marlen Reusser and Anna van der Breggen are also expected to be among the fastest riders on the day.
Other Canucks riding for GC
And there are two other Canadians who should be going well today—world champion Magdeleine Vallières Mill (although she’ll have to wear her regular EF Education-Oatly skinsuit today) and Nadia Gontova of Liv AlUla Jayco. These three riders are the key Canucks vying for the GC, and all of them are strong climbers.
There are five other Canadians racing as well, but most likely Alex Volstad, Alison Jackson, Mara Roldan and Maggie Coles-Lyster will be cruising in and thinking about the flatter stages. However, Jackson’s St Michel–Préférence Home–Auber93 teammate Clara Emond is a wildcard and may mix it up today, too. She has won a stage at the Giro before, so we can’t discount her.
While a stage win may be a tall order against such a stacked field, the uphill test offers Holmgren a chance to measure herself against some of the sport’s biggest names. In 2025, in her first Giro, she finished seventh overall. She is likely looking to improve on that result, and the hill-climb TT will be a good way to show she’s here to do just that.
By the end of the day, the Giro’s GC picture should look much clearer. But there are still plenty of tough stages left.
Time trials…
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