Giro d'Italia Women stage 9 LIVE: A final chance to challenge for the maglia rosa on a tough, hilly course
It's anything but a parade stage with 2,100 metres of total elevation gain on the 145km Saluzzo loop, marking a tough finale where the overall winner will be crowned
It's only 20km to the start of the main climb of the day, so if a breakaway does get up the road we say see a repeat of yesterday, when they are caught on the lower slopes, not long after they got away.
120km to go
The race has eased significantly from earlier, but they're still along at 41km/h. We saw this yesterday, the high pace due to the number of riders wanting to get up the road.
The coming kilometres are a draggy false flat, there are no steep gradients though.
Crash in the peloton
Riders from UAE Team ADQ, Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria, EF Education-Oatly, Vini Fantini-BePink and UNO-X Mobility are involved in the crash.
There's been a crash in the peloton, though we have never detail as yet.
There were mixed feelings for Demi Volllering after she won a shortened stage 8 on Saturday.
"It really changed the plans we had," the FDJ United-SUEZ rider said.
It's flattened out now, so perhaps we'll see a breakaway now.
These opening kilometres are slightly downhill and the current average speed is 60km/h!
140km to go
As it has been for the last few days, it's fast at the front but no attacks have managed to stick just yet.
The final climb tops out 38.9km from the finish, but there's an uphill intermediate front at Colletta di Rossana 24km out which could prove a brilliant launch pad for someone. Anything could happen today.
We've got another flat start to the stage today, before the day's first category climb to Montoso starts after 45 km. Following the descent there's the third category Colletta di Paesana, with the second category Colletta di Brondello to finish.
There's one non-starter this morning, Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) has withdrawn.
The official start
Here we go. The flag has dropped and the final stage is on!
It looks like there was some tension before they set off.
Looks like we'll see high temperatures of about 25º, though not a lot of sunshine. There's not a lot of a chance of rain and, once again, not a lot of wind.
We've got 4.4km of neutral before the real fun starts and the riders are rolling.
It was all smiles for Alessia Vigilia (UNO-X Mobility) and her friends and family before the start.
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If the race stays together over the early climbs, former British champion, Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic-PostNL) could be good for today's stage.
But what about stage yesterday? The Colle Delle Finestre brought drama on and above the road.
We've got almost 2,100m of climbing today, as we flirt with the mountains.
Can Vollering deliver enough to overtake Van der Breggen?
We're still in the north west of Italy for the final day of the race, on the very edge of the Alpes Maritimes, starting and finishing in Saluzzo. We roll for 145km at 13:15CET.
Good morning and welcome to stage 9 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women. Stay with us for all the updates from the deciding day of the race.
