2023-07-01 03:25:17
What water, what water on the Women’s Giro, the Tour of Italy whose 34th edition (June 30-July 9) started from Tuscany with a 4.4 kilometer prologue in Chianciano this Friday.
It rained so much, and so hard that the event, interrupted several times, was finally canceled purely and simply, to preserve the safety of the competitors. The jury of marshals met and decided to stop there at 2:40 p.m., when about half the peloton had been able to start. For the record, the Italian Letizia Paternoster (Jayco-Alula) had set the best time by a few thousandths ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and a few tenths ahead of Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma). The three riders were classified in the same time 5′42′’.
Luckily, there are eight stages left on the program of the Tour of Italy, the last rehearsal before the Tour de France meeting (23 – 30 July), the route of which will take the peloton from Tuscany to Sardinia. Winner three times on Italian roads, the Dutch Annemiek Van Vleuten, 40, already crowned on the Vuelta two months ago, is the big favorite.
On this “Giro Donne”, the French women will also each have a role to play. Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health) will probably aim for a stage victory. Aude Biannic will carry out her duties as teammate with Van Vleuten at Movistar while Juliette Labous (Team DSM-Firmenich), 9th place last year, will play the overall. The largest contingent of Tricolores is in the FDJ-Suez formation with Eugénie Duval, Marie Le Net, Victorie Guilman and Gladys Verhulst.
On paper, the 5th stage between Salassa and Ceres seems the most difficult with the Passo del Lupo (10.1 km at 8.4%) in the first part of the stage. The route of this edition does not present any major difficulties to overcome, however several stages can prove to be tricky. But obviously, the weather will be one of the parameters to be taken into account.
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