Giro dell’Emilia Donne returns on Saturday with a field shaped as much by the European Championships clash as by the climb to San Luca. Several of the riders who would normally dominate the conversation are racing for their national teams elsewhere, leaving the 111.3km Italian one-day race unusually open.
Cat Ferguson, Sarah van Dam, Gaia Realini, Amanda Spratt, Sarah Gigante and Lauren Dickson are among the riders with a genuine route to victory. None arrives as the obvious reference point that Elisa Longo Borghini, Demi Vollering or defending champion Kim Le Court might have provided, which should make the first ascent of San Luca much harder to control.
The course starts outside Ferrara’s Castello Estense, takes one full 11.3km circuit of the city and then heads south towards Bologna. The decisive section begins after the race enters the hills around Val di Zena, with the only classified climb starting at Botteghino di Zocca before two ascents of San Luca in the final 11.4km.
The final climb is short enough for punchier riders to survive but steep enough to expose anyone carrying tired legs into October. With the Curva delle Orfanelle reaching 20%, positioning and the timing of the final acceleration will matter every bit as much as climbing depth.
Previous winners
2025 – Kim Le Court
2024 – Elisa Longo Borghini
2023 – Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
Giro dell’Emilia Donne 2026 route
The women leave Ferrara at 10:15 CEST and race 111.3km to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca above Bologna. The opening circuit around Ferrara is flat and exposed, so the first hour should be about breakaway formation rather than any serious selection among the favourites.
Once the race leaves Ferrara it passes through Minerbio, Bagnarola, Castenaso and San Lazzaro di Savena before entering the Val di Zena. The terrain becomes progressively more difficult there, with the race’s only classified climb beginning at Botteghino di Zocca after 79.7km. That should be the first point where the stronger teams can start removing riders before Bologna.
The decisive phase starts at the Arco del Meloncello with 11.4km remaining. Riders climb San Luca once, descend via Monte Albano and Casaglia, then return through Saragozza for a second ascent to the finish. The full circuit is 9.2km, leaving almost no recovery time between the two efforts.
San Luca is around two kilometres long and averages close to 10%, but the average hides the most important detail. The gradient changes sharply and reaches around 20% at the Curva delle Orfanelle. A rider who loses momentum there can concede several bike lengths almost instantly. Our Giro dell’Emilia Donne 2026 route guide goes deeper into the approach and the double-climb finale.
Photo Credit: J.C. CordovillaCat Ferguson has the acceleration for San Luca
Ferguson is one of the most interesting riders on the final start list because the route asks for almost exactly the qualities that have produced her best results this year. She has already won three times in 2026, including the Navarra Women’s Elite Classic in May, where a selective hilly course rewarded her ability to stay with the climbers and still finish quickly.
Her second half of the season has been less straightforward. A crash ended her Giro d’Italia Women on the opening day and she only returned to championship racing in Montréal, where she finished 20th in the under-23 road race. That makes the form line less obvious than the spring results, but the short 111km distance should help.
Movistar also have enough depth to avoid asking Ferguson to chase every move. Arlenis Sierra and Claire Steels can both contribute on the run into Bologna, while Tota Magalhães and Aude Biannic give the team more numbers before the first San Luca ascent. Ferguson’s ideal race is one where the group is reduced without becoming a pure climbers’ contest before the final kilometre.
Sarah van Dam arrives with the clearest recent form
Van Dam’s September victory at the Finistère Ladies Classic was her first professional win and confirmed a season in which she has repeatedly moved closer to the front of major races. Earlier in the summer she finished seventh overall at the Tour de Suisse Women, then produced fourth and seventh-place stage finishes at the Tour de France Femmes.
That combination makes her a serious San Luca contender. Van Dam can handle repeated climbing without needing a long steady ascent, and she has enough speed to be dangerous if four or five riders reach the final 300 metres together. The first ascent may be more important for her than the second because Visma can use Rosita Reijnhout, Maud Oudeman and Nienke Veenhoven to make the race difficult without forcing Van Dam to attack herself.
The main question is how she responds when the gradient reaches its steepest point. San Luca is more explosive than the climbs where Van Dam has collected many of her best stage-race results, but the shorter distance should leave her with more in reserve for the final effort.
Gaia Realini and Amanda Spratt give Lidl-Trek two different options
Lidl-Trek may have the strongest climbing pair in the race. Realini is the purest climber among the leading names and the steepest sections of San Luca should suit her naturally. Her 2026 results have been quieter than the seasons in which she finished on Grand Tour podiums, though, and she has not raced extensively through the late summer.
Spratt offers a different route. She has the experience to recognise when the first ascent is becoming decisive and can attack before the final climb rather than wait for a direct uphill contest. She finished ninth on stage three of the Faun Tour Femmes in September and completed the Montréal World Championships, so there is enough recent racing in her legs to make her difficult to dismiss.
Loes Adegeest and Anna Henderson add tactical depth. Adegeest won Kreiz Breizh Elites Féminin in August and can work well from a smaller group, while Henderson gives Lidl-Trek another rider who can help with the positioning battle before San Luca. The absence of one overwhelming favourite makes that depth particularly valuable.
Sarah Gigante can turn the final climb into a pure test
Gigante is harder to read. She has raced sparingly in 2026 and finished 42nd at the World Championships in Montréal, but very few riders in this field can match her if the final two kilometres become a straightforward climbing effort.
AG Insurance-Soudal do not have the same depth as Movistar or Lidl-Trek, which may push Gigante towards a conservative approach on the first ascent. If she reaches the bottom of San Luca for the final time with the front group still together, the steepest ramps give her the chance to make the race about climbing rather than sprinting.
The problem is positioning. Gigante is at her best once the road is rising, but the fight into Meloncello could be as important as the climb itself. Losing ten or fifteen places before the gradient bites would make an already difficult final two kilometres unnecessarily expensive.
Eva van Agt and Nadia Gontova can profit if the favourites hesitate
Van Agt has already shown this season that she can turn a hilly one-day race into a victory. She won La Périgord Ladies in July with a well-timed attack inside the final 1.2km, and that instinct could be valuable if the favourites begin watching one another between the two San Luca ascents.
FDJ UNITED-SUEZ also have Sofia Bertizzolo and Vittoria Guazzini, giving them different options if the race remains larger than expected. Bertizzolo has not carried much form through September, but the team does not need to build the entire race around one leader.
Gontova arrives after fifth in the Chrono Féminin de Gatineau, 11th at the Tour de Gatineau and a full World Championships programme in Canada. She was ninth overall at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier in the season and is well suited to a race where the climbing is short but repeated. Liv AlUla Jayco can also use Monica Trinca Colonel and Noä Jansen before the final ascent.
Photo Credit: Getty
Photo Credit: GettyLauren Dickson arrives with a fresh climbing result
Lauren Dickson deserves to sit much closer to the main contenders than the final start list initially suggests. At the Faun Tour Femmes in September she finished third on both stages two and three, stayed within 28 seconds of the race lead going into the final day and then won the hardest stage around Peyrus.
That final stage included two ascents of the Col de Tourniol and the Col des Limouches, so the result matters more here than a flat late-season stage win would. Dickson was able to climb with Juliette Berthet and Niamh Fisher-Black throughout the race before using FDJ UNITED-SUEZ’s two-rider advantage to win the finale and finish third overall.
San Luca asks for a shorter and more explosive effort, but Dickson’s September form gives FDJ another rider who can survive a genuinely selective race. That changes the team’s options considerably. Eva van Agt can attack before the final climb, while Dickson can be protected for the steepest section if the first ascent reduces the group without splitting it completely.
Rosita Reijnhout, Loes Adegeest and Julie Bego are dangerous outsiders
Reijnhout gives Visma another card if Van Dam is heavily marked. Her 13th place at Pointe du Raz in September followed a solid Giro d’Italia Women in which she finished fourth in the youth classification. She is unlikely to want a direct sprint against Ferguson or Van Dam, so an attack between the two climbs makes more sense.
Adegeest can make the same argument for Lidl-Trek. She has enough climbing ability to survive San Luca and enough speed to punish hesitation. Julie Bego is another rider worth watching for Cofidis, especially if the first ascent produces a group of 15 to 20 rather than immediately reducing the race to the strongest climbers.
Nicole Steigenga, Linda Zanetti, Anouska Koster, Claire Steels and Arlenis Sierra all become more relevant if the early pace is controlled and a comparatively large group reaches Bologna. San Luca usually rewards the climbers in the end, but the 2026 field is open enough that teams cannot simply assume the same five riders will still be together at the final kilometre.
How Giro dell’Emilia Donne 2026 could be won
The first 80km should favour control. The strongest teams have little reason to spend riders on the flat roads out of Ferrara, and the European Championships clash has removed enough obvious favourites that nobody will want to take responsibility too early.
Botteghino di Zocca should change that. A hard pace there can begin reducing the group before Bologna and, more importantly, remove domestiques from teams relying on numbers. Lidl-Trek and Visma have the clearest incentive to make that part difficult because both arrive with more than one plausible winner.
The first San Luca ascent is where the tactics become more complicated. Realini and Gigante benefit if the race becomes a climbing contest immediately. Ferguson and Van Dam have more reason to manage the first effort, avoid being isolated and keep something for the final ascent. Spratt and Reijnhout may be the riders most tempted to attack over the top and use the descent.
If a small group reaches the final climb together, the first serious move is likely to come before the Curva delle Orfanelle. Waiting until the steepest ramp risks getting boxed behind riders who are beginning to slow. Ferguson’s acceleration, Van Dam’s current form, Realini’s climbing and Gigante’s ability on very steep gradients give each of them a different way to reach the same point.
How to watch Giro dell’Emilia Donne 2026
The race starts in Ferrara at 10:15 CEST on Saturday 3 October, which is 09:15 BST in the UK. The finish is expected between 13:05 and 13:23 CEST, approximately 12:05 to 12:23 BST.
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Photo Credit: Getty
UK coverage is centred on TNT Sports and HBO Max, with Italian coverage also scheduled around the Giro dell’Emilia programme on Rai Sport. Our Giro dell’Emilia Donne 2026 TV guide has the latest viewing information and UK timings.
Top 3 prediction
1. Cat Ferguson
2. Sarah van Dam
3. Lauren Dickson
