Giro Women 2026: Lorena Wiebes sprints to victory and maglia rosa, but is then disqualified
From a pink dream to a nightmare. Lorena Wiebes pulled off a double victory on Saturday in the first stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women, but was disqualified a few hours later because her bike was too light. Elisa Balsamo—originally second—was thus handed the stage win and the first pink jersey.
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
From cycling heaven to hell
At least, that’s how it seemed. A few hours after her double win in the opening stage, Wiebes was taken out of the race. The SD Worx-Protime sprinter was disqualified because her bike did not comply with UCI regulations.
This concerns a violation of article 2.12.007-2.2: Wiebes’ bike failed to meet the international cycling union UCI’s rules. “Specifically, the failure to meet the minimum weight requirements,” the organizers wrote in a press release. Wiebes’ bike was found to be too light.
As a result, Wiebes is not allowed to start the second stage. Elisa Balsamo benefits from Wiebes’ disqualification. The Italian from Lidl-Trek originally crossed the finish line second in Ravenna but now 'receives' the stage win and the pink jersey.
