The Giro d’Italia Women will not overlap with the Tour de France for men from 2026 onwards after the UCI approved a request for a change of dates by race organiser RCS Sport. The race, which traditionally takes place in July, has often had to compete for attention with the sport’s most famous race, limiting its media exposure and public focus.
RCS Sport applied to the UCI for a new place in the calendar, and the governing body agreed to shift the race earlier in the season. From 2026, the Giro d’Italia Women will begin on Saturday, 30 May. That will mean a slight overlap with the final weekend of the Giro d’Italia for men, mirroring the setup already used by the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes.
This year’s 36th edition will still go ahead as scheduled in July, beginning on Sunday, 6 July, with a 14-kilometre time trial in Bergamo. Riders will then tackle a tough parcours featuring summit finishes at Aprica, Pianezze and Monte Nerone before concluding with a hilly stage on the 2020 World Championships circuit around Imola. Defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini and top contenders Marlen Reusser, Anna van der Breggen, Évita Muzic, Juliette Labous, Marianne Vos and Lorena Wiebes all feature on the provisional start list, while Demi Vollering will skip the race to focus on the Tour de France Femmes.
Photo Credit: GettyUCI locks in Women’s WorldTour calendar until 2028
The UCI has also announced that the current Women’s WorldTour race programme, including the newly added Dwars door Vlaanderen, will remain unchanged for the 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons, assuming organisers continue to meet UCI requirements. No new races will be considered for WorldTour status until 2029, giving existing events a stable platform to grow and allowing teams to plan their seasons with certainty.
2026 UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar
TBC: Santos Tour Down Under (Australia)
TBC: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – Women (Australia)
5-8 February: UAE Tour Women (United Arab Emirates)
28 February: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Belgium)
7 March: Strade Bianche Donne (Italy)
15 March: Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio (Italy)
21 March: Milano-Sanremo Donne (Italy)
26 March: The Great Sprint Classic (Belgium)
29 March: Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (Belgium)
1 April: Dwars door Vlaanderen – Across Flanders (Belgium)
5 April: Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium)
11 April: Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift (France)
19 April: Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition (Netherlands)
22 April: La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (Belgium)
26 April: Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (Belgium)
3-10 May: Vuelta España Femenina by Carrefour.es (Spain)
15-17 May: Itzulia Women (Spain)
21-24 May: Vuelta a Burgos Feminas (Spain)
30 May-7 June: Giro d’Italia Women (Italy)
11-14 June: Tour de Suisse Women (Switzerland)
20 June: Copenhagen Sprint (Denmark)
1-9 August: Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (France)
20-23 August: Lloyds Tour of Britain Women (Great Britain)
29 August: Classic Lorient Agglomération – CERATIZIT (France)
4-6 September: Tour de Romandie Féminin (Switzerland)
9-13 September: Simac Ladies Tour (Netherlands)
13-15 October: Tour of Chongming Island (China)
18 October: Tour of Guangxi (China)
