Giro d'Italia Women stage 4 LIVE: A tough Alpine time trial will begin to shape the GC with a new maglia rosa likely
The first significant GC shake-up with a challenging 12.7km uphill time trial on a cat.1 climb to Nevegal
And Becky Storrie is the first to finish, the Picnic-PostNL rider clocking 35.57. She was sixth to start, so has put in a magnificent ride.
100 riders to go
Matra Pavesi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) heads down the ramp and we're inside the final 100 riders.
But we have a new fastest intermediate time, Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health) setting a time of 10:02.
Soraya Paladin (Canyon-Sram) has just started. She's a strong all-rounder, with a big engine for a time trial, but she may take it relatively easy to preserve herself for tomorrow.
No one is yet at the finish, which is an indication of just how hard today is, it's 31 minutes since the first rider started the 12.7km course!
Storrie is standing the test of time, no one is yet inside 20 seconds of her 10:10 at the intermediate time check.
She's done well in mountain TTs before, finishing 16th on stage 2 of the 2024 Tour de Suisse.
We saw Mikayla Harvey in a nasty crash during yesterday's stage, sadly the SD Worx-Protime rider has been forced to with draw from the Giro this morning.
The loss will limit the support for their GC rider, Anna van der Breggen in the coming mountain stages.
120 riders to go
Valentina Zanzi (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria) is the 24th to start, leaving 120 left to start.
Storrie is still the fastest at the intermediate, which came at 5.3km.
No sooner do we say that than she is eclipsed by Beckie Storrie, the British Picnic-PostNL rider clocking 10:10.
Katelyn Nicholson has the current best time at the intermediate time check, the Australian stopping the clock in 10:38.
Eleonora La Bella (Aromitalia Vaiano) just started. She wore the blue mountains jersey in yesterday's stage after taking maximum point on Sunday's only climb at Ca' del Poggio.
Robyn Clay (Picnic-PostNL) has just started. the British rider is among the first of the WorldTour team riders off the ramp. Clay is in her first year at this level, after coming to the sport late in life.
Though the early riders head off the ramp at one minute intervals, the final 15, will start with three minute intervals.
The remaining 7.4km is horrendous, with an average gradient of 8%, there are early ramps of 12% before the slope eases off to something more manageable.
The route is a tough one. Just 12.7km, it comes in two halves.
The first 5.3km to the intermediate time check is up and down and averages only 1.5% gradient.
Riders start at one minute intervals in the reverse order of the general classification, so Elisa Balsamo will be the final rider.
Two of Marinetto's team mates, Sara Segala and Katelyn Nicholson are the next two off the ramp.
The first rider off
The first rider for this year's race is Ilaria Marinetto, the Mendelspeck E-Work rider was in the breakaway on stage one, but started today as the last rider on the general classification.
Elena Cecchini is still on home roads for today's TT, though we're further west than yesterday's stage. And further into the mountains, north of Vittorio Veneto, a city Sunday's stage passed through.
We start at 13:20CET in Belluno for the 12.7km race to Nevegal, with the first rider off at 13:20 and the last at 16:02.
Giro d'Italia women stage 4 time trial start times.
Such is the route for today's TT we're likely to get a new race leader, but yesterday Elisa Balsamo took a third stage and maglia rosa.
Balsamo powered to her hat-trick victory on stage 3 with searing uphill sprint.
Today is a tough mountain time trial set to paint the first GC picture of the race.
The Giro has a long tradition of time trials which goes way back. Whether it be a short prologue, a team time trial or an individual mountain effort like today.
Welcome to stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women and it's individual time trial day.
