Giro d'Italia Women 2027 route revealed – Uphill time trial and brutal final mountain stage feature on climber-friendly course

The organisers of the Giro d’Italia Women unveiled the route of the 2027 race in Rome on Tuesday, and while the race is shorter than last year’s, it has far more climbing, favouring the mountain goats once again.

While this will be the 38th edition of the women’s Giro, the 2027 edition will be only the fourth organised by RCS, the company which runs the men’s event, and they continue to make the race more challenging.

In total the race is slated to cover 1,132km, some 20km shorter than last year, but with 500m more vertical ascent on the cards, and with three stages climbing 3,500m or more, the 2027 Giro will suit the purest climbers more than ever before.

Next year’s race takes place over nine stages, beginning with a lumpy opening day in the seaside resort of Viareggio on May 29, and concluding on June 6 with a brutal third Alpine road stage organisers have named the 'Monte Bianco stage', on the Italian side of Western Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc. And it's a tough way to end the week the riders tackling almost 4,000m of vertical ascent.

The entire race is set in the north-west, starting in northern reaches of Tuscany before heading along the coast into Liguria. There's a brief visit to Emilia-Romagna as the race moves into Lombardy for a first visit to the mountains. The final two stages, including a mountain time trial, take place in Italy’s smallest region, the Valle d'Aosta

With such a challenging route, including two mountain top finishes, a mountain time trial and that brutal final day in the Alps, organisers will be hoping the route tempts the sport’s biggest star, Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ), to defend the maglia rosa she won last year, though whether she takes the bait is to be seen.

After her second place at the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, it’s a race suited to Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and her new Lidl-Trek team, while after her win at the Vuelta España Femenina, the new GC star on the block, Paula Blasi, may opt for the Giro, especially as the course is suited less to her new Movistar teammate Marlen Reusser.

After finishing second overall in 2026 and with the Canyon-SRAM Scalable Capital team leadership in her hands, Antonia Niedermaier is another candidate for success, especially with the mountain time trial featuring again. However, such is the the amount of climbing , we could see pure climbers like Vuelta stage winner Petra Stiasny (Human Powered Health) and Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), who won two mountain stage on her way to third overall in 2025, among the suitors to the maglia rosa.

But before we get too deep into who may win, here's what the route will look like next May.

Where the race will be decided

While the GC riders will need to be attentive over the three flatter opening days, the 2027 Giro will be decided over four mountain stages, which include two mountain top finishes, a time trial and the final Alpine day.

Stage 4 features four classified climbs and 3,500m of vertical ascent and the week’s first mountain top finish, stage 4 is the first GC battle of the week. Covering 131km between Credaro and Passo della Presolana, the stage heads into the Bergamasque Prealps, the day’s final climb the perfect platform for attacks with its relatively even gradient edging between 5% and 10% over almost 12km.

If one strong climber emerges on stage 4, we may see a procession two days later when stage 6 takes us into the Central Alps for another mountain top finish, this time at Madesimo above the Valle Spluga. With more climbing than the previous mountain day, the stage also includes the Cima Alfonsina Strada, the race’s highest point, the Passo San Marco, some 1,987m above sea level.

Read more: A history of the most iconic climbs of the Giro d'Italia Women

A brute of a climb, the gradient averages 7.4% over its whopping 19.6km length, though the top comes still with 80km to the finish, and ahead of the ascent to the line, which also approaches 20km in length.

The stage 8 mountain time trial will be crucial for those looking to challenge the general classification. It’s the second consecutive edition of the Giro with an uphill TT, and this is harder than the one Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) won last year, even if it’s 1.7km shorter, there's no respite over the 11km, the gradient ramping up to 10%.

The TT crosses the path of the final stage, and both will force some reshaping of the GC, though with almost 4,000m of vertical ascent in the shadow of Mont Blanc, the final day should be hugely dramatic, and could even see the GC turned on its head.

Only 132km, the day takes in four classified climbs in total, though it is the final one, the Colle San Carlo, which is likely to have the most effect, not only coming on the final day, but averaging almost 10% gradient over its 10.5km. Interestingly, it tops out 25km from the line, with a descent and a short kicker to the line, creating opportunities for some fascinating racing.

Where else can riders shine?

Despite the huge amount of climbing on the route, there are a good five opportunities for sprinters and opportunists.

While we could even see five bunch sprints, at least three of the days are lumpy enough to upset the fast women, and after missing out on the pink jersey after being disqualified from the 2026 Giro when her bike was judged to be underweight, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) is likely to be disappointed with the opening stage. Starting and finishing in Viareggio, on the Tuscan coast, the 124km stage takes place over four laps, each with an early climb, and though Wiebes may be able to survive, it will be far more complicated, especially with plenty of other riders aiming for pink.

Stage 2 heads up the Ligurian coast between Massa and Genoa and is a similar lumpy day, though with much of the climbing coming early on, it’s more likely to end in a sprint than the day before. However, if a breakaway is still out front when the race reaches Genoa, the sprinters’ team will need to take care to bring it back.

At 171km, stage 3 is the longest of the nine, though, along with stage 5, it's the first of only two where a bunch sprint is almost guaranteed. A long early climb will bring a fight for the breakaway, though it will be comprised of eternal optimists, as the final 150km are downhill and the day should be easy to control on the road to Viadana.

With only 300m of climbing, stage 5 is the flattest of the week, flatter even than the time trial, and is the second nailed on opportunity for the fast women, especially if they’ve struggled for success up to that point. Another circuit race, the stage takes place around the town of Cassano d’Adda, closing with four almost pan-flat laps.

Though on the face of it stage 7 looks like another sprint day, it's sandwiched between a brutal Alpine stage and the mountain time trial, so is ripe for breakaway success. At 147km between Carugate and Rho, there is only one classified climb and some gentle undulations, so any escapees will need to work hard to the line or they’ll tempt the sprinters to take control.

Stages in full

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