Giro d’Italia Donne: These are the Most Important Races for Women Cyclists

The Giro d'Italia brings cycling to everyone's lips when it comes to this time of year. On the occasion of this event, we decided to take a look at the most important events in women's cycling.

Women's cycling is often made invisible, despite the growing popularity it has been accumulating. The women's Giro d'Italia has only existed since 1988 and the first equivalent of the Tour de France will have its first edition this year. For this reason, it seemed important to us to highlight the most important women's cycling events that exist, their formats and their dates.

Giro d'Italia Donne

This event is regarded as the most prestigious women's stage race in the world. It takes place in Italy, at the beginning of July every year, so it is usually in competition with the men's Tour de France. With more than 32 editions, this event has a duration of 10 days and a distance that varies from 800 to 1000 km, approximately.

Some of the most prominent historical cyclists in this event are Fabiana Luperini, Anna van der Breggen and Marianne Vos. The first, Italian, won it 5 times, in the years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2008. The second is a Dutch cyclist who won the event four times in 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2021. Finally, Marianne Vos is another representative of the netherlands, the woman who has won the most stages in the history of the event with 30 stage wins.

The Netherlands and Italy are the countries that stand out the most in this competition. The former has won this competition 9 times while the latter has won it 8 times. Surprisingly, the United States, a country with little cycling tradition, has also found success in the Giro d'Italia Femmenile , with three wins.

Also read: Giro De Italia: What other countries could have a Grand Tour?

The Women's Ardennes Trilogy

These are three single-day races that take place during the month of April in Belgium and parts of the Netherlands. There are a total of three circuits: Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallona and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Although the men's versions of these races have been held since 1990, the first women's Fleche Walloon did not take place until 1998 and we did not have all three races in one year until 2017.

Again, the cyclists from the Netherlands stand out in these three races. If we add up their victories in each event, the Dutch women have achieved a total of 23 wins.

Perhaps the most prominent cyclist in these events is Anna van der Breggen, who was the first to complete the Ardennes hat trick in 2017.

The Women's Tour

This is the UK's most prestigious race, a staged event that has been running since 2014.

It is usually held in May or June and due to its relative youth, there has not yet been a cyclist who repeats the trophy in its different editions.

According to the official page of the event, this year the Women's Tour will take place from June 6 to 11, starting in Colchester and ending in Oxford, with a duration of six days. The last race had an extension of 635 km, with more or less 100 km per stage, so it is expected that this edition will have a similar extension.