As it happened: The sprinters have their day in Ravenna at stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia Women
A pancake flat stage from Cesenatico to Ravenna, 139km
Good afternoon and welcome to the opening day of the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women.
We'll be here bringing you live coverage of all nine stages of the 37th women's Giro, with today's opening stage kicking off at 15:20CET.
For many years the Giro was the most important stage race on the women's calendar and some of the biggest names have taken the title.
Sign on has already begun in Cesenatico, with Spanish ProTeam, Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi on the podium.
The maglia rosa will be awarded to the stage winner at the end of today's opening stage between Cesenatico, on the Adriatic coast, and Ravenna. That's likely to be a sprinter as the 139km stage is pan flat. But you never know.
This is the 37th edition of the race and the first time for many years it's not clashed with the men's Tour de France. It's also the third edition organised by RCS, the same company responsible for the men's race.
They say they're investing heavily in the event.
Elisa Longo Borghini might be the defending champion and the home town hero, but she's had a badly disrupted season.
"A really uncertain moment for me," she says.
Another rider whose season has been badly disrupted is Marlen Reusser, the Movistar rider was second last year.
She's making her comeback from a spinal fracture.
Should today's stage come down to a sprint finish, Lidl-Trek have one of the favourites in Elisa Balsamo. The former World Champion will be keen to take the victory and pink jersey on home roads.
Demi Vollering starts the race as the out and out favourite to win the general classification.
But Grand Tour domination has rarely come naturally to her.
Just five minutes until we roll out for the start of the Giro.
Lorena Wiebes starts the day as the outstanding favourite to win the stage and take the first maglia rosa. She's on top form, winning stages at the recent Vuelta Burgos where she honed her form ahead of today's race.
We're rolling for 3.8km of neutral before the racing starts. It's a warm one in Cesenatico, around 28º but with the chance of thunder storms later. Let's hope not!
The course takes the riders inland and northwest, they turn right for an intermediate sprint at Alfonosine before heading south to Ravenna for three laps of a tight, technical city circuit of 13.2km.
The start town of Cesenatico is on the Adriatic coast in the region of Emilia-Romagna and only around 20km south of the finish in Ravenna. It is also the birth place of one of Italy's most fabled cycling sons, Marco Pantani.
It's a pretty calm start in Cesenatico, with no successful attacks just yet.
They're riding through a flat area, but there's little in the way of wind blowing to affect the race.
We have attacks at the front of the race.
The peloton will only climb 250m all day and there are no classified climbs, so no blue jersey, maglia Azzura will be awarded today.
We have three riders at the front, Valeria Curnis (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria), Sharon Spimi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and Sofia Arici (Vini Fantini-BePink) lead the peloton by one minute, with Ilaria Marinetto (Mendelspeck-E Work) in the gap.
And as quick as that the peloton are happy, allowing Curnis, Spimi and Arici a lead of two minutes.
Marinetto is not so happy as she's stuck in the gap for now.
There are five third division, Continental teams in this year's Giro, and our four breakaway riders represent four of them.
Only Aromitalia Vaiano have missed out.
All of the breakaway riders are Italian too, so this is a huge day in their racing careers.
It looks like Marineto will need to wait for another day, sadly. She's now 2.10 behind Curnis, Spimi and Arici, with the peloton not far behind her.
There's no change at the front of the stage, with Curnis, Spimi and Arici leading Marinetti by 2.10 and the peloton by 2.32.
110km to go
Though today is likely to conclude with a bunch sprint and the winner will have the maglia rosa, it's not likely to affect the final overall standings.
So which stages will define the the general classification?
The gaps are increasing even more now. Curnis, Spimi and Arici lead Marinetto by 3.08 with the peloton a further a further 40 seconds down.
Surely Marinetto would like to stay away, but she's burning a lot of energy out there alone in no-woman's land.
With the high temperatures it's important for riders to keep drinking and eating. Here Laboral Kutxa-Fundación are feeding their riders from the car.
And Marinetto is now caught by the peloton who trail the three leaders by four minutes.
No change at the front. Valeria Curnis (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria), Sharon Spimi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and Sofia Arici (Vini Fantini-BePink) lead the peloton by four minutes.
100km to go
Today's stage passed close to Cesena, where stage 4 of the 2022 Giro started and finished. It was a boiling day which was won by Annemiek van Vleuten.
The next obstacle for the leaders is the intermediate sprint. That comes with 74.4km to go in Alfonsine.
With the gap out to four minnutes, it seems the breakway will take the honours there, there are 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available too.
Maybe the peloton are hungry for those bonus seconds, they have lopped almost 90 seconds off the breakaway's advantage.
Curnis, Spimi and Arici only have 2.37.
90km to go
The gap is now down to one minute and, with 10km to the sprint it seems Curnis, Spimi and Arici will be caught before they reach it.
Maybe the break will take the sprint after all. The lead for Curnis, Spimi and Arici remains over a minute as they approach Alfonsini.
80km to go
And with the bunch still 1.30 behind the breakaway do take the sprint, Arici was first across the line.
just as well it wasn't a full bunch as the sprint line was on a bend after a roundabout.
The race has settled once more after the sprint, Curnis, Spimi and Arici ar back together with the bunch some 1.20 behind them.
70km to go
The race finishes with three full laps of a circuit around Ravenna. They race enter that circuit with 49.6km to go, and see the line three times before the finish.
It seems there was some indecision in the peloton as to whether to contest the intermediate sprint, as they're letting the gap go out again now.
The final circuit is quite technical, with 11 bends, including one dead turn, seven roundabouts and some narrow sections. The finish line is just by a small harbour, across the road from the railway line.
UAE Team ADQ are on the front of the peloton now, they have Lara Gillespie as their sprinter for today. The Irish woman has had one win and four podium finishes this year, so far.
Curnis, Spimi and Arici now lead by 1.24, so it seems the peloton are holding the gap just where they want it. The closer it is the better, especially with a tight city circuit coming up. We saw at the men's race in Milan last Sunday what happens if the break are left too far out.
60km to go
Bad news from the race. There were some crashes earlier in the day.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar) is out of the race.
Another crash in the peloton, with two riders down but back up and away again.
The landscape the race is tackling is very flat and open. In 2017 stage 4 took the race to Occhiobello, close to where we are now, and crosswinds on the flat terrain blew the race apart, distancing Annemiek van Vleuten, who ended up finishing almost two minutes down.
Sharon Spimi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) was the last of the breakway to be caught. We'll be in Ravenna and onto the circuit very soon.
50km to go
On the circuit the kilometres will fly by and we can expect the racing to become become slightly frantic. Winning this stage is a huge prize, every rider and team will want it.
The action is on now, the roads are narrow and there's plenty of road furniture. Having been close to the front for ages, SD Worx-Protime have dropped back very slightly.
Movistar are now on the front, Visma-LEase a Bike in close attendance. FDJ United-SUEZ are protecting Demi Vollering up there too. This is really stressful for the teams.
With Ferguson out, Movistar will pivot to supporting Arlenis Sierra for the final.
It's a real washing machine in the peloton everyone wanting to be close to the front,
We've just rounded the dead turn, it's 2.2km to the the first sight of the finish line now.
One challenge for the peloton on a circuit like this is the way the road widens, allowing riders to move up, then narrows, shutting the door on those riders. And when the prize is so big, this is stressful and more dangerous.
UAE Team ADQ and Movistar are keep ing the pace very high as we wind through the streets of Ravenna.
FDJ United-SUEZ are struggling to stay in position, some riders having to sprint back up to support Vollering. They have Ally Wollaston for the sprint, but the New Zealander is way down for now.
UAE are bossing this, they're only ever-present team at the front. That uses a lot of energy though, constantly racing other teams to get in front for every bend and hazard.
Ally Wollaston might not like the chaos, but she's moving up effortlessly at the moment
A brief settling of the race at the moment on the wider roads. Interestingly, UAE have slipped back slightly, Fenix-Premier Tech are making their presence felt. They'll be desperate for Charlotte Kool to win the stage.
30km to go
We might see some of the teams rehearsing their tactics in this lap. Next time round isn't so good as it'll be chaos ahead of the final lap.
The SD Worx lead out is very confident in positioning, they often hang back a little, coming to the front late and with devastating effect.
For now though, their GC rider and four time overall winner, Anna van der Breggen is on the front, but the pace isn't too high here.
UAE are back to the front now, Movistar with them. They've dominated plenty of races this year but failed to finish them off, today could well be the day.
Fenix-Premier Tech are doing a brilliant job. They have a small unit with Kool, accepting the chaos and piloting her where she needs to be.
SD Worx, on the other hand are trying to move as a larger unit, possibly making them slightly more cumbersome.
20km to go
It's final feed time for the teams as they pick up bottles ahead of the final lap. Remember, it's a 13.1km circuit.
UAE remain at the front.
Lidl-Trek come to the front now, showing themselves for their sprinter, former World Champion, Elisa Balsamo.
Balsamo hasn't won this year and will be desperate to do so here.
It's a designated sprint stage, so there is a 5km safety zone for GC times. That means anyone held up by a crash or mechanical will be credited with the same time as the group they were in when that incident happened.
Movistar are very invested in today, but Sierra has been working for the team and with no sprinter, surely they are only keeping Marlen Reusser safe.
See what happens at 5km to go!
Picnic-PostNL are now heading to the front, it's the first we've seen of them, something of a trademark for them.
A small crash close to the front of the race, with two riders down. They look as healthy as anyone does when they crash.
SD Worx have only two riders with Wiebes, as Vollering heads to second wheel, intelligently keeping herself safe.
FDJ are happy on the front now, and everyone else is happy for them to be there.
No! Now it's Lidl-Trek back on the head of the group, but as the road widens again others squeeze their way through.
UAE, Visma-Lease a Bike, Human Powered Health are among those there too.
Defending champion Elis Longo Borghini is on the front for UAE Team ADQ and their sprinter, Lara Gillespie.
5km to go
Wide road now and riders spread across the tarmac, trying to make sense of the chaos and gain the best position.
SD Worx take control. Wiebes third wheel now, Van der Breggen on the front, Barbara Guarischi second wheel.
SD Worx will struggle to hold position for the entire final 3km, Van der Breggen leads though, she can keep a very high pace, as we saw in the Vuelta.
Into the dead turn now, we're 2.2km from the finish line.
Van der Breggen still on the front, but Gaurischi and Wiebes have dropped back. Van der Breggen has been pushed back by UAE.
The final right hander is 900m from the finish, but we have a left/right kink at 400m, the sprinters need to be on their final lead out riders' wheel here.
Guarischi on the front very early, Wiebes will need to freelance the final 900m.
Still Gaurischi is there, but no, she's gone and Wiebes is freelancing, 400m to go.
Wiebes goes very long, at 300m and takes the win. The Dutch champion's jersey will be taken by the maglia rosa as the SD Worx rider takes the overall lead.
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A closing circuit like the one on Ravenna creates the perfect scenario to ruin the plans of the best. But among the chaos of today's stage Lorena Wiebes was imperious. As her team mates and other squads came and went, Wiebes kept herself in the middle of the tear drop shape which constituted the front of the peloton.
And while her lead out rider, Barbara Guarischi was on and off the front far too early she was able to find shelter from the wind before launching her sprint.
It could be said that other teams allowed SD Worx to carry too little responsibility when the race reached the closing circuit, especially given she was the favourite, but what else could they do?
Out-sprinting her doesn't work, isolating another team's sprinter while simultaneously concentrating on their own race is almost impossible, especially on such a lap, so they just did their own thing, hoping it would work. And with some luck it might have done, especially when Guarischi was on the front so early.
Also, the size of the prize has to be considered, everyone wanted to win the stage and with the pink jersey, so they raced positively. Expect SD Worx to come under more pressure in the ensuing stages, though.
Wiebes had openly stated victory in Ravenna was one of her main targets and she was suitably pleased with the result.
"It's amazing, the team worked really hard for it all day to control the breakaway," she said. "It was a lot of chaos on the local circuit, like we expected, but I could rely on my team mates, and also my final lead out, Barbara Guarischi she came a bit too early, but I found my way and I was able to sprint and that was the most important of the day."
"We focused mainly on the last lap to stick together and time it well to the finish."
After a long overnight transfer, Sunday's second stage looks set for another bunch finish..
"Hopefully it's another sprint and it would be amazing to try to win in the maglia rosa."
Thanks for joining us today for coverage of stage 1, we're back tomorrow for the second stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women.
Remember, it's an early start, the peloton rolling out at 10:55CET.
See you then.
