To the surprise of exactly no one, in the flat opening stage of the women's Giro d'Italia it was Lorena Wiebes who crossed the line victorious and pulled on the first pink jersey of the race. Wiebes was expertly led out by SD Worx-Protime in a hectic finale on the city streets of Ravenna.
Elisa Balsamo was the second-fastest sprinter in the race, but the Lidl-Trek rider finished well behind Wiebes. There was still some daylight between the Italian and Lara Gillespie of UAE Team ADQ in third.
Wiebes will wear the pink jersey into stage 2, which is expected to be another sprint finish.
[race_result id=9064 stage_id=90174 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
[race_result id=9064 stage_id=90174 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- Unfortunately, a crash early in the stage took Movistar's Cat Ferguson out of the race before she even got a chance to sprint for any stages. She was one of quite a few riders who went down, although the rest were able to get back on their bikes.
- A breakaway of three Italians was established early on, roughly 7 km into the 139 km stage. Valeria Curnis (Isolmant - Premac - Vittoria), Sharon Spimi (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), and Sofia Arici (Vini Fantini - BePink) made sure the Italian Continental teams got some TV time a little over a minute ahead of the peloton. They were caught early, with still 50 km to go to the finish.
- As soon as the race entered the finishing circuits in Ravenna, the sprinters' and GC riders' teams lined up on the front of the peloton. The nature of the city streets made the race more hectic, as top teams fought for position.
- With 13 km to go, the race crossed the finish line for the penultimate time.
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