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Women’s Giro dell’Emilia 2020 Preview – Tips, Contenders, Profile

Giro dell'Emilia 2019

The 2020 edition of Tuesday’s Giro dell’Emilia should be an interesting one. The Giro dell’Emilia is a 1.Pro level race and almost every former winner will be taking part. Only the 2014 winner Rossella Ratto will be missing out. Disappointingly there won’t be too much coverage of the race. Italian broadcaster RAI will be covering the men’s race at the same time but there’s no separate women’s coverage in their schedule. We may get snippets from fixed cameras on the climb, we also might not.

The parcours doesn’t offer too much for riders until the final 2km. The final climb up to the monastery of San Luca in Bologna is the same one used in the prologue of the 2019 Giro d’Italia and then subsequently immortalised in Zwift. Although in fairness, the Giro dell’Emilia has been using it for years. The last 1.8km of the race is at an average of 10.7%, great for a punchy climber.

Paule Ka were down to take part in this race but were subject to an overnight attack on their team vans. The thieves took 7 race bikes and Paule Ka are unable to get news ones to the race in time. They have understandably withdrawn from the race.

Recent Winners

2019 – Demi Vollering
2018 – Rasa Leleivytė
2017 – Tatiana Guderzo
2016 – Elisa Longo Borghini
2015 – Elisa Longo Borghini

TV Coverage

Highlights on RAI Sport. Possible live coverage of the race from 15:00CET as part of the men’s coverage but unlikely.

Teams

  • Team Sunweb
  • CCC-Liv
  • Ale BTC Ljubljana
  • Canyon SRAM
  • FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine
  • Trek-Segafredo
  • Astana
  • Parkhotel Valkenburg
  • Paule Ka
  • Ceratizit-WNT
  • Valcar
  • Eurotarget-Bianchi-Vittoria
  • Cogeas Mettler
  • Top Girls Fassa Bortolo
  • Aromitalia Vaiano
  • WCC Team
  • Lviv Cycling Team
  • Chronos Casa Dorada
  • Servetto-Piumate-Beltrami TSA
  • Born to Win
  • Conceria Zabri
  • Italian National Team
  • Colombian National Team

Women’s Giro dell’Emilia 2020 Profile

Women’s Giro dell’Emilia 2020 Favourites

Liane Lippert is the current leader of the Women’s WorldTour. She got off to strong start to the season with 2nd in the Tour Down Under and then winning the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The recent Strade Bianche race was tough but she finished 16th in the heat and dust. Lippert was 5th in last year’s Giro dell’Emilia and was 2nd in a similar uphill finish in last year’s Tour of Britain.

Astana’s Arlenis Sierra also started the 2020 season well. She was 2nd in the Cadel Evans Race and then 3rd Overall in the Herald Sun Tour. She’s not raced yet since the season resumed but has good form previously in the Giro dell’Emilia. She was 2nd to Rasa Leleivytė in the 2018 edition and followed it up with 11th last year. Rasa Leleivytė is the 2018 Giro dell’Emilia winner and has a great history with the race. She’s only finished outside the top-4 in one edition out of 5 races. Her form is good too, she was 11th in Strade Bianche recently. Despite not being on one of the top teams, she’s a strong podium shout.

Liane Lippert
Liane Lippert
© Team Sunweb | Patrick Brunt

CCC-Liv are one of the top teams and have a few candidates. Soraya Paladin is the home favourite. She was 6th here last year in her breakout season. It’s tough to say how she’ll fare as her 2020 season hasn’t reached the same heights yet. She was 17th in Omloop het Nieuwsblad and 35th in Strade Bianche. Sofia Bertizzolo is another home favourite on the team with an iffy 2020 season. 27th in Omloop and a DNF in Strade Bianche aren’t indicators of great form. She’s got good results here before though with 8th in 2017 and 10th in 2018. Their best bet could be the returning Sabrina Stultiens. She was 18th in Strade Bianche, only a couple of spots behind Liane Lippert. She’s not raced the Giro dell’Emilia before but is a great card to have to play.

Former winner Tatiana Guderzo is probably the best bet for Ale in this race. Aside from winning, she’s also been 4th and 10th in previous years. She’s had a quiet 2020 so far but this should be one of her target races for the season. Marta Bastianelli has a pretty mediocre record at this race with a best finish of 40th. But she can never be ruled out. Parkhotel Valkenburg has last year’s winner Demi Vollering coming back. She started 2020 well with 3rd Overall in the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana but struggled to 20th in the heat at Strade Bianche. Sounds obvious as she’s won before, but the punchy finish suits her.

Katarzyna Niewiadoma with Lianne Lippert chasing

A punchy finish also suits Katazyna Niewiadoma. She won on Burton Dassett in last year’s Tour of Britain and has been 8th here before in 2016. It’s her only attempt at the Giro dell’Emilia and it’s been a while. Her 2020 season didn’t get off to the best start when she fell off doing recon before Strade Bianche. Alena Amialsiuk has the best history in this race of the Canyon SRAM riders. She’s been 3rd, 6th and 10th in previous editions. She’s had a solid if unspectacular 2020 season so far. A couple of top-20s in the Basque Country races and 28th in Strade Bianche.

Elisa Longo Borghini is a double winner of the Giro dell’Emilia. Her worst result here, in fact, is 2nd place. She’s very neatly finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th so far in 2020 so she just needs a win to complete the full set. She’s an obvious favourite. Her teammate Liz Deignan has traditionally liked a punchy climb. She was 9th in the Nafarroako Klasikoa since the race resumed. She was also 3rd on the Burton Dassett stage on her way to winning last year’s Tour of Britain. Ruth Winder was great before COVID-19 took hold. She won the Tour Down Under and was 8th in the Cadel Evans race. Then she carried the form back to Europe to finish 15th in Omloop het Nieuwsblad. The DNF in Strade Bianche raises questions about her form though.

Paule Ka’s hopes will be through their star rider Clara Koppenburg. She was 4th recently in the Emakumeen Saria which its punchy climbs. Her previous results in the Giro dell’Emilia are a pair of 15th places. She’s another who DNF-ed Strade Bianche after a crash. Her young teammate Mikayla Harvey finished 12th in Strade Bianche as she quietly accumulates strong results. She was also 16th and 17th in two of the Basque races and clearly appears to have come out of lockdown racing strongly. See above for note about Paule Ka’s bikes being stolen.

Erica Magnaldi
Erica Magnaldi

Erica Magnaldi is another rider who left Strade Bianche with a DNF. Until then though, she’d been doing well with 5th in Nafarroako Klasikoa and 16th in Emakumeen Saria. Certainly a strong climber option for the Ceratizit team, she’s finished 10th and 14th in the Giro dell’Emilia before. Another strong climber on the team is Kathrin Hammes. After her great 2019 season, she’s had a quiet 2020 one so far. It’s more likely we see her working for Magnaldi.

Finally, it’s tough to rule out FDJ’s Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig on this sort of finish too. She’s in good form after finishing 7th at Strade Bianche and 11th at Emakumeen Saria. She was also 3rd in the 2018 edition of this race.

Women’s Giro dell’Emilia 2020 Outsiders

Asja Paladin is Soraya’s sister but races for Casa Dorada, who get to race here despite their tough start to life. She’s been very consistent in this race, with 5 finishes between 18th and 25th. Top Girls Fassa Bartolo have Greta Marturano who has also finished in the 20s before in this race. She put together a solid race at the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana earlier in the season, winning the youth classification, as she finished 18th Overall.

Asja Paladin
Asja Paladin

I tipped Silvia Zanardi as one to watch in La Perigord Ladies this week and she delivered! She was 4th after getting herself into the winning break. She’s probably more of a sprinter than a punchy climber mind. BePink teammate Vania Canvelli followed up her great 23rd at Strade Bianche with 28th in La Perigord. She got herself in a break but missed what turned out to be the race-winning break. She’s someone who could do well on the final climb.

Eurotarget’s Elena Franchi is another young Italian talent. She was 6th in last year’s Giro delle Marche and 4th in the 2019 La Perigord too. Her biggest result is 18th in the Giro Rosa though. No races so far in 2020 make it tough to judge form but there’s potential there. Beatrice Rossato also DNF-ed Strad Bianche like many others. She’s achieved a pair of 16ths in previous years here.

Race Prediction

1st
Liane Lippert
2nd
Elisa Longo Borghini
3rd
Katarzyna Niewiadoma