03/07/2022

Giro d’Italia Donne could move from July to avoid clash with Tour de France

Under UCI's proposal, the Giro d'Italia Donne might be moved from its traditional July slot in 2023. The tour is organized in the first two weeks of July.

Giro d’Italia Donne clashes with Tour de France and now with Tour de Femmes starting this year, it leaves only two weeks for tour preparation for teams and riders. According to UCI president David Lappartient, the regulatory body is in talks with the Giro organizer and trying to find a new date.

He said :

“We’re working with the Giro d’Italia Donne to think about another date for 2023. Also for the visibility of the ladies to have this race during the Tour de France, it’s quite difficult to be seen, and the Giro d’Italia Donne is also a wonderful race. We are working on different options for 2023 first but maybe on a long-term strategy with no overlapping in the women’s calendar to avoid some big clashes like this. The date in July will probably not be the one in the future.”

Marianne Vos wins 3rd stage of Giro d’Italia Donne

The French man further added:

“We have only 14 WorldTour teams. We hope to reach 15, which is the goal for us, and we have no overlapping between the different races. We will really stick to this because we don’t want to overlap because the size of the women’s teams are not the same as the men’s and if you have it then you will lose visibility and the teams themselves will not be able to ride both, so this is why we want to do this.”

Since its debut in 2016, the Women's WorldTour has grown swiftly, with several races trying to be a part of it. He also emphasized the need to improve Women’s cycling from its root. “At the end, there will be a certain limit to the calendar. Even if you don’t have overlapping, if you go from February with potentially Down Under next year to the end of the season, that’s also a long season, with teams that are not the same size.

They don’t have 28 or 30 like it is for the men. We are in close discussions but the goal for us is also to enlarge from the bottom.We also have to have more races for the ladies in the national federations. You can’t have the pyramid the wrong way around. For this, we need to enlarge from the roots and that won’t happen in a day.” concluded David Lappartient .