Longo Borghini vs Vollering: The Giro’s Defining Duel

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) made it perfectly clear: “I don’t feel pressure because I’ve already won the race twice, and I’m not the favourite.” And, in truth, she is right. As extraordinary as the winner of the last two editions of the Giro d’Italia Women may be, whenever Demi Vollering (FDJ United–SUEZ) is on the start line, she is the rider to beat. The Dutch star is missing only the Corsa Rosa to complete her Grand Tour collection, and this year she appears more dominant than ever, having already claimed victories at the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

The last time Vollering raced the Giro was in 2021, when she finished third, but since then she has become a rider on an entirely different level. Longo Borghini, for her part, has the experience and tactical skills required to manage a race like the Giro — one that, as we saw last year, can be decided on virtually any stage.

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Experience and Youth

At the recent Vuelta España Femenina, the evergreen Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx–Protime) once again showed her class, winning a stage and finishing second overall. The Dutch champion is also a four-time winner of the Corsa Rosa, having triumphed between 2015 and 2021. More uncertainty surrounds the condition of Marlen Reusser (Movistar), runner-up last year but absent from racing since the Tour of Flanders following a fractured vertebra.

At the Vuelta, behind Van der Breggen, the young French climber Marion Brunel claimed third overall. Brunel won on the Colle delle Finestre at the Tour de l’Avenir in 2024 and will be expected to lead Visma | Lease a Bike alongside 19-year-old Slovak talent Viktória Chladoňová. Meanwhile, Canyon//SRAM will place its hopes in Antonia Niedermaier, stage winner at the Giro in 2023, and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.

Outsiders and Fast Finishers

Riders such as Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco), Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health), Niamh Fisher-Black, the young Isabella Holmgren (Lidl–Trek), and Urška Žigart (AG Insurance–Soudal) will also be worth keeping an eye on, all of them capable of targeting a place in the Top 10. The reigning world champion Magdeline Vallieres (EF Education–Oatly) will be on the start line as well. Stage racing may not be her natural terrain, but she is unlikely to settle for a supporting role.

For the less demanding stages, one name stands above all others: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx–Protime). Among her 126 professional victories, the Dutch sprinter has already claimed five Giro stage wins, and this year she has every chance to add to that tally. It will not be easy, though, with riders such as Elisa Balsamo (Lidl–Trek), Charlotte Kool (Fenix–PremierTech), Chiara Consonni (Canyon//SRAM), Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ), and Nienke Veenhoven (Visma | Lease a Bike) all looking to challenge her, while Ally Wollaston (FDJ United–SUEZ) and Cat Ferguson (Movistar) could prove especially dangerous on the more selective fractions.