New organiser RCS Sport launched the 2024 edition of the race now known as the Giro d”Italia Women – formerly the Giro d’Italia Donne – which will have eight stages from July 7-14, timing that Elisa Longo Borghini believes bodes well for a strong field given the positioning before the Paris Olympic Games.
“For me it’s the perfect combination,” Longo Borghini told Cyclingnews. “It’s the perfect race for just before the Olympics and I think many other riders will probably be doing the same, at least I hope so.”
Since the introduction of the Tour de France Femmes in 2022, the proximity of the women’s Giro d’Italia to the French race has meant that while some of the big names have taken on the double, such as Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), but others like Demi Vollering (SD Worx) have chosen to focus purely on the yellow jersey. The Tour de France Femmes, however, will be later this year due to the Olympics, with the women’s road race on August 4 and the French women’s tour running from August 12, instead of in late July.
The Giro d’Italia Women will be later than usual, too, with the race that started at the end of June in 2023 now starting in the second week of July. This will mean it continues to overlap with the attention grabbing men’s Tour de France, but with the Giro organisation now aligned with the men’s event there are hopes that the level of professionalism and media exposure surrounding the long-running women’s race will now also more closely align with that seen at the May Grand Tour.
The organiser and dates aren’t the only changes as while the course of the women’s race is yet to be revealed, with that saved for a stand-alone announcement, it has been disclosed that there will be eight stages, instead of the nine of 2023 and ten of previous editions.
“People are always debating about the length of these stage races but we showed at the Tour de France, that only with eight stages it’s a great showcase. So I really don’t look at the eight stages of the Giro as something that we are losing. But surely we are gaining,” said Longo Borghini, focussing on the bigger picture.
“We will gain a lot of media attention, spectacle and spectators also and then being so close to the Olympics it will be surely attended by a lot of big stars.”
As to what courses those big stars will be tackling Longo Borghini, who has lined up for 12 editions of the race and twice stood on the overall podium, is looking for a…
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