Paris Olympian Kim Cadzow and the experienced Mikayla Harvey lead the New Zealand charge when the premier women’s road cycling tour gets underway in Italy.
The Giro d’Italia Women, established in 1988, sets off overnight from Bergamo in northern Italy with 22 seven-rider teams to contest a testing eight-stage tour.
It is the second Grand Tour on the women’s calendar with an exciting route featuring three summit finishes, two sprint stages and a key time trial. The final stage will finish with a loop at the famed motor race circuit in Imola.
Harvey, 26, is an experienced professional with the Wanaka rider in her first year with the exciting SD Worx-Protime team.
They are led by Belgian star, Lotte Kopecky, the multi-world champion on the track and road, who won a stage last year on her way to the points classification. The team also boasts the remarkable Anna van der Breggen, the Dutch star who won this race four times before retiring after a medal at the Tokyo Olympics to become a director sportif. She has returned to racing this year.
Harvey has led the way for New Zealand female professionals, joining the first UCI team in 2017 and has been on the Women’s World Tour from 2021 with Canyon-SRAM, UAE Team ADQ and now on a two year contract with the crack SD Worx–Protime team.
The kiwi is remembered for her outstanding fifth placing in the 2020 Giro, although her progress has been affected by illness before being approached to join SD Worx–Protime, quickly becoming a core part of their prospects.
Cadzow, 23, has enjoyed five wins as a professional rider, joining the ER Education-Oatly team in 2024 after her Women’s World Tour debut with Team Jumbo-Visma. She is a three time national champion – twice winning the individual time trial and the road race title this year., with her World Tour stage win coming at the Trofeo Ponente race a last year.
“It’s my first time racing the Giro and I’m excited. The scenery is unreal and the riding is epic,” said Cadzow. “I love the parcours in Italy with the mountains and the big valleys. We have such a strong team going. And that’s what makes EF-Oatly-Cannondale such an awesome team: our strengths on and off the bike,” said Cadzow.
The Giro follows the first women’s Grand Tour at the Vuelta Espana Femenina in May, and starts in Bergamo with a 13.7km individual time trial. Stage two is a challenging 99kms with 1400m of climbing, before the sprinters get their chance on stage three which includes an early challenging climb.
There is a summit finish to the 156km stage four to Pianezze ahead of a sprinter-friendly stage 5 over 108km with a finishing circuit to Monselice. Stage 6 is 144kms to San Marino with five climbs including the steep ascent of the Villa del Monte. Before a 15km final circuit, which leads to the penultimate day to Monte Nerone of 157kms with four categorised climbs in the 3,800m of climbing.
The final day is 138kms with 2000m of climbing before the finish at Imola, used for the 2020 UCI Road World Championships.