The 28th Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile – the Giro Rosa for short – gets underway Friday in Aquileia, and as usual, many of the top names in women's cycling will be in attendance.
A coveted prize to add to anyone's palmares, the 10-stage race is one of the premier events on the Women's WorldTour calendar. This year's edition has drawn up a parcours that eschews some of the more intensive climbing days seen in recent years, which could serve to open up the race.
Things kick off with a short team time trial, followed by a punchy second stage. Stages 3 and 4 should favour the sprinters before a key individual time trial of a little under 13 kilometres on the fifth day of racing.
Following another sprinter's stage, stage 7 and 8 both feature tough late climbs. The fast finishers may get one more chance on stage 9 before a 10th stage whose ascent of Mount Vesuvius should offer a final opportunity for the pink jersey hopefuls.
Megan Guarnier will return to the race as defending champion at the head of an unsurprisingly powerhouse Boels Dolmans squad, with former winner Anna van der Breggen and Lizzie Deignan in the mix as well. Potential rivals for the overall title include Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Pro Cycling), Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervelo-Bigla) and Arlenis Sierra (Astana).
The many stages catering to the fast finishers have drawn top sprinting talent as well, with Chloe Hosking (Alé Cipollini) and Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) among those likely to battle for stage victories.
