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The 2025 Giro d’Italia Women will feature a challenging route with three summit finishes: Aprica, Valdobbiadene, and Monte Nerone. The 36th edition of the race, which spans eight days, covers 939.6km and includes a significant 14,000 meters of elevation gain. Starting in Bergamo on 6 July, the race will conclude on 13 July at the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola. The event opens with an individual time trial and includes a mix of stages: two flat, three medium mountain, and two high mountain stages. A standout feature of this year’s race is the mid-stage climb of Cima Alfonsina Strada at Passo del Tonale, honouring the legendary Italian rider.
Several of the continental teams have presented their new kits last week, including NXTG Racing, which will be focusing this season primarily on youth development. LABORAL Kutxa also presented its new kit, which features the same purple but adds reds and greens with some gradients and shapes for a new look. Handsling Alba stayed true to their Scottish roots but added a dash of the Northern Lights to its 2025 jersey.
The upcoming NATO summit, with its potential impact on the local infrastructure and security requirements, created significant uncertainty regarding the availability of police officers, particularly motorcycle patrols, which are critical for managing logistics and ensuring the safety of riders and spectators during races. The Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) has taken proactive measures to counter this disruption by investing in civilian motorcycle traffic controllers. The fact that they have managed to secure €215,000 in funding from the House of Representatives is an encouraging sign of support for the sport, also demonstrating a recognition of cycling’s importance both culturally and economically in the Netherlands.
Amy Pieters, who suffered a severe fall during training in Spain at the end of 2021, is making steady progress in her recovery. The former Team SD Worx rider is now living independently in an adapted apartment and has regained the ability to walk. Also on a positive note, the contractual matters with her former team have been amicably resolved.
Canadian rider Maghalie Rochette will be unable to participate at the CX World Championships this year as she is suffering from repeat virus infections and need more time to recuperate. She has decided to end her season early.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has reiterated that her primary goal upon returning to road cycling is to win the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift within the next three seasons. However, she’s in no rush to jump straight into that challenge. Her 2025 schedule will focus on adapting to the road racing environment and reacquainting herself with the discipline. Ferrand-Prévot is rejoining the road racing scene with Visma-Lease a Bike after concluding her illustrious mountain biking career, which culminated in an Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games.
Elisa Longo Borghini will aim for a second consecutive Giro d’Italia Donne victory in 2025. The Italian national champion has taken on a leadership role at UAE Team ADQ, seeking to step out of the comfort zone she developed during her six years with Lidl-Trek. She is focused on securing a second maglia rosa, before targeting the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and the World Championships in Rwanda later in the season.
The UCI Ethics Committee has imposed sanctions on two senior officials from Team Velopro-Alphamotorhomes (formerly Proximus-Cyclis) for inappropriate behaviour of a psychological and sexual nature as well as managerial neglect. Sports Director Gert Vervoort has been handed a five-year suspension from all cycling-related activities. Meanwhile, Team Manager Eddy Van Bunder faces a three-year suspension, which can be reduced to 1.5 years upon completion of safeguarding training, along with a CHF 5,000 fine for having failed to take adequate measures in response to complaints about Mr Vervoort’s inappropriate conduct and for failing to report these concerns to the Commission.
In an interesting move, Cycling Canda has banned TT bikes for juniors at the road nationals. This move aims to help fairness and accessibility for the young riders as well as increase in participation and talent identification. TT bikes are very expensive and often used only rarely during the season, making them too expensive for these often self-funded young riders.
The UCI has provided an update on the progress of the initiatives it has launched to improve safety in women’s and men’s road races. In total, 497 incidents were recorded in 2024 across UCI WorldTour, UCI Women’s WorldTour, and UCI ProSeries events (both men’s and women’s). Of these incidents, 35% were attributed to unprovoked rider errors. Other major contributing factors included tense race situations, such as approaching critical points like climbs, cobbled sectors, or sprints (13%) and hazardous road conditions, particularly wet and slippery surfaces (11%). Road infrastructure issues, poor road conditions, and vehicle behavior were responsible for 9%, 4%, and 1% of recorded incidents, respectively. As part of its safety improvements, the UCI has introduced changes to race regulations. One key update is the expansion of the ‘three-kilometre rule’ for bunch sprint stages, which can now be extended up to five kilometres at the request of the race organiser and with UCI approval. Additionally, the 2024 UCI SafeR investigation has explored a range of equipment-related safety solutions, such as rider airbags, rim height and handlebar width regulations, and potential gear restrictions to limit top speeds. However, these equipment changes will not be implemented by the UCI just yet.
The UCI has announced that the composition of its Athletes’ Commission will be renewed in 2025. The new members will be elected by their peers at the 2025 UCI World Championships for the different cycling disciplines represented on the Commission. The Commission has been made up of 20 members, with each of the included disciplines – road, track, mountain bike cross-country, mountain bike downhill, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, para-cycling, cyclo-cross, trials and indoor cycling – represented by two riders (one man and one woman). Candidates for the UCI Athletes’ Commission must be active or recently retired, at least 18 years old, fluent in English and/or French, and not have been sanctioned for a violation of the UCI Anti-Doping Regulations. For full details of the eligibility of candidates, consult the Athletes’ Commission’s terms of reference. Only athletes taking part in the UCI World Championships may vote.
Results
Tour Down Under
Stage 1: Daniek Hengeveld (CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team) ahead of Ally Wollaston (FDJ-SUEZ) and Kathrin Schweinberger (Human Powered Health)
Stage 2: Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatley) ahead of Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Mie Bjorndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility)
Stage 3: Chloe Dygert (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) ahead of Silke Smulders (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Noemi Rüegg ( EF Education-Oatly)
GC: Noemi Rüegg ahead of Silke Smulders and Mie Bjorndal Ottestad
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Blog
Why isn’t pro cycling leading the charge on sustainability? From excessive travel to wasteful practices, Lizzie Stannard’s blog explores how women’s cycling can embrace climate action and make meaningful changes for a greener future. Read her ideas right here.
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This week in cycling history
Mieke Havik
Dutch rider Mieke Havik, born on 18 January 1957, made history as the first woman to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Féminin in 1984. Throughout her career, she secured numerous Dutch titles from 1978 to 1987 and set the world record for 100 km ridden indoors in 1983. Havik’s dream of racing in the Tour de France began in childhood, at a time when the event was exclusively for men. Undeterred, she was determined to become a professional rider. To fund her ambitions, she worked part-time in a restaurant, using her earnings to buy her first road bike and obtain her cycling license. In 1984, her dream came true when she became the first woman to don the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Féminin. However, Havik was critical of the event’s organisation, especially the lack of prize money for women. She noted that, even in 1984, women’s cycling was not being taken seriously by the sport’s governing bodies. After retiring from competitive cycling, she transitioned to a career as a haptotherapist. She runs her own practice in Heeze, where she continues to work to this day.
