Australian Women’s WorldTour team Liv-AlUla-Jayco will head to the Giro d’Italia Women with multiple goals as the squad chases stage wins and a top General Classification result with Italian climber Monica Trinca Colonel.
The Giro d’Italia Women begins on Saturday, May 30th, and features nine stages with a mix of sprint opportunities and tough mountain stages, including a penultimate day which climbs the Colle delle Finestre before a finish in Sestriere. There will also be an eye-catching mountain time-trial to Nevegal on stage 4.
27-year-old Italian climber Trinca Colonel only turned professional in 2024, but has been one of the sport’s fastest-rising contenders in recent years. She finished seventh at the recent La Vuelta Feminina and claimed her first WorldTour stage race podium at the UAE Tour in February.
After a good start last year, Trinca Colonel faded out of contention before failing to finish the final stage of the Giro d'Italia Women. She is hoping for better on this occasion.
“The Giro d’Italia is a special event for me,” she said in a team press release. “This year, I especially like the route and the Colle delle Finestre is one of those places I’ve always dreamed of climbing in a Grand Tour.”
“I believe I can achieve some good results. My shape is improving, so I’m excited to get started and see what happens.”
At least four stages of the Giro d’Italia Women are expected to end in bunch gallops. The Australian team have included sprinter Georgia Baker in their lineup to face off against the likes of Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime), who is currently priming her sprint train at the Vuelta a Burgos as she looks to add to her three previous stage wins at the Giro.
The team also includes Silke Smulders, who was 14th on the general classification last year and will act as key support to Trinca Colonel. The 25-year-old Dutch rider returned to racing last month after breaking her back in a crash during the second stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana in February.
Canadian Nadia Gontova is also included in the lineup following a strong breakaway performance at the Navarra Elite Classics last week. Caroline Andersson, Quinty Ton and Matilde Vitillo complete the squad.
“This year’s Giro d’Italia has three sure-fire GC days in the stage 4 time trial, the day after through Cortina, and then stage 8 into Sestriere,” said the team’s sport director, Shawn Clarke.
“These are some pretty epic locations with epic roads, and it’s going to be some great racing. Then there are going to be maybe three or four dead-set sprint days, but we also know there are a couple of days in the Giro that don’t go to plan.
“Having seen the courses, there are some chances for exciting racing that’s neither sprint nor GC. With the team that we have for this race, we’re ready for all of that. If the race goes – as the Giro can often do – a little bit off-script, we’ve got a team that can adapt to that.
“We’re looking for opportunities, and we’ve seen in the last races that the riders are coming in good shape, ready to take some results.”
