The 2026 Giro d’Italia Women includes a number of destinations making their debut in the competition. Even though the race is relatively young, with the first edition dating back to 1988 and this being only its 36th edition, almost every stage introduces something new.

The Grande Partenza in Emilia–Romagna will open in Cesenatico, Marco Pantani’s hometown. The city has hosted two Giro Women stage finishes – Regina Schleicher’s win in 2003 and Marianne Vos’ sprint in 2014 – but never a stage start. The fraction will finish in Ravenna, which played the opposite role in the 1999 Grande Partenza that opened with the Ravenna-Misano Adriatico stage.

For Roncade and the H-Farm innovation hub, host of Stage 2’s start, it will be an absolute first in top-level cycling. Caorle, meanwhile, after welcoming the Giro Next Gen back in 1977 and the men’s Giro in 2023, is now ready to embrace the women’s peloton for the first time.
It won’t be a debut for nearby Bibione, start of Stage 3, which in 1998 hosted both the start and finish of a stage won by Anna Millward. But it will be a first for Buja, which until now has only hosted a stage of the Giro della Regione Friuli.

Stage 4 is an uphill time trial from Belluno to Nevegal. Belluno has been featured several times in the Giro and Giro Next Gen, but never in the Giro Women. Nevegal last hosted a finish in 2001, won by Switzerland’s Nicole Brändli, a three-time Maglia Rosa.
Fun fact: in the 2011 Giro there was an identical time trial, won by Alberto Contador ahead of Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi.

Stage 5, starting in Longarone, will also be an absolute first for the Giro Women, as will the finish in Santo Stefano di Cadore, which has never hosted a major cycling event.
A similar story applies to Stage 6, Ala–Brescello: both towns are essentially untouched in Giro history, even if Ala is well known in cycling for the Sega di Ala climb, tackled in both the Giro and the Giro del Trentino.

Stage 7 is also completely new. The start in Sorbolo Mezzani appeared once in a 2021 Giro Next Gen time trial, while Salice Terme, the finish location, has hosted the Giro twice (a start and a finish) and was used in the Giro delle Regioni for U23 riders. And then comes the highly anticipated Stage 8, starting from Rivoli – host of the 2018 Italian Women’s Championships but never of the Giro Women. Rivoli has, however, hosted a finish in the 2023 Giro and in the 2022 Milano–Torino. The grand finale unfolds between the Colle delle Finestre and Sestriere. The monstrous Finestre climb has been raced only once before in a women’s event, at the 2024 Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, where Marion Bunel took victory. Sestriere, on the other hand, has hosted countless Giro and Tour stage finishes, as well as two stage finishes in the former Tour cycliste féminin – won by Fabiana Luperini (1997) and Christian Soeder (2008).

The closing stage will start and finish in Saluzzo, a town that has hosted only two distant Giro starts (1992 and 2000) and has never been involved in major modern cycling events.
In 2026, however, the Maglia Rosa and the Trofeo Luce Infinita will be awarded right here.
Not a bad way to make a debut.

Discover the details of all the stages of the Giro d’Italia Women 2026!