Giro Women 2026: Lorena Wiebes claims first pink jersey in Ravenna after dominant sprint

Lorena Wiebes won the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women. The SD Worx-Protime rider was the fastest from a significantly reduced peloton on a dangerous city circuit in Ravenna. Elisa Balsamo and Lara Gillespie finished second and third, while Charlotte Kool took sixth place.

This year, the Giro Women starts with two flat stages in the Emilia-Romagna region. On Saturday, the riders covered 139 kilometers from Cesenatico to Ravenna, where four narrow, twisty laps of twelve kilometers each were scheduled.

In the early part of the race, we watched a fully Italian breakaway for a long time, consisting of Sharon Spimi, Sofia Arici, and Valeria Curnis, who had no chance of winning the stage and were caught with fifty kilometers to go by the nervous peloton.

Ferguson forced to abandon, more riders crash
Cat Ferguson, one of Movistar’s leaders, was already out by then. The British rider crashed early on Saturday and had to leave the Giro. She was certainly not the only one to hit the ground. Several riders crashed or suffered mechanical issues in Emilia-Romagna, causing them to finish with a delay. One of them was Justine Ghekiere.

In the end, there was still a sprint finish in Ravenna. At the front of the peloton, we saw the lead-out trains for Charlotte Kool, Elisa Balsamo, Lara Gillespie, and of course Wiebes, who launched her sprint early.

As is almost always the case, no one could match Wiebes. On Sunday, she will continue her Giro in the pink leader’s jersey.

𝑼𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒐 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒂 𝑾𝒊𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒔 🚀

La mejor velocista de todos los tiempos se viste con la maglia rosa del @girowomen y alcanza las 1️⃣2️⃣7️⃣ victorias profesionales.

💖 Hasta el domingo 7, el #GiroditaliaWomen en Eurosport y @StreamMaxES pic.twitter.com/yrkzhR4Sa8

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) May 30, 2026