The is an annual elite women's

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

. It was rebranded from 2013-2020 as the Giro Rosa, having been branded the Giro Donne until 2012 and again in 2021. It has been considered the most prestigious stage race in

women's road cycling A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

History

Previously known as the Giro Donne, the race historically was a nine- or ten-day event taking place in Italy in early July each year, generally competing for attention with the more famous men's . While the rebranded Giro Rosa has kept its position in the racing calendar, it was shortened in 2013 to eight days, before returning to its traditional ten-day length the next year. With the cancellation of the

Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin The Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin was the longest running UCI event on the women's elite cycle racing calendar. It had been held annually in the Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occi ...

after 2010, the Giro Donne was the only Grand Tour left in women's cycling, and in December 2012 Wieler Review reported that the company Epinike had withdrawn as Giro Donne organiser, making the 2013 edition uncertain. In April 2013, however, organisers announced a shortened and rebranded Giro, so that the Giro Rosa would go ahead in 2013. In 2016, the race became part of the new

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. History In order to increase the coverage of Women's cycling the UCI held a summit in December 2014 between the UCI Women’s Working Group and the UCI Women's ...

, organized by the . It lost the World Tour status for the 2021 edition, and it has been downgraded to a 2 Pro-level stage race. The decision has been met with criticism.

Winners

Multiple winners

Wins per country

Secondary classifications

The awards a number of jerseys for winners of certain classifications – the current competitions that award a jersey are: * Jersey violet

(

in 2012)

Points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

, for the rider with the most points as awarded by finishing positions on stages and the first riders to go through intermediate sprints. Recently, the winner wears the ' (purple jersey). * Jersey green

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...

, for the rider awarded the most points for crossing designated climbs, generally at the peaks of hills and mountains. The winner wears the ' (green jersey). * Jersey white

Young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

, for the fastest rider under the age of 25 to complete the race. The winner wears the ' (white jersey). * Jersey blue

Best Italian rider classification, for the fastest Italian rider to complete the race. The winner wears the ' (blue jersey). In 2006, the young riders classification was not run, instead a sprints competition was won by

Olga Slyusareva Olga Anatolyevna Slyusareva (russian: Ольга Анатольевна Слюсарева) (born 28 April 1969 in Chervonyi Donets, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian professional racing cyclist. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in the p ...

(RUS) and awarded the blue jersey.

Winners by year

Winners by Country

Stage wins

Notes

References

External links

* (Italian and English) {{UCI Women's World Tour Cycle races in Italy Recurring sporting events established in 1988 1988 establishments in Italy Women's road bicycle races UCI Women's World Tour races