"This has been the hardest setback": Sarah Gigante will miss the Giro as her rehabilitation takes longer than expected
Cycling
The 2026 Giro d'Italia Women will have a large absentee in Sarah Gigante. Despite the best efforts of her and AG Insurance - Soudal Team doctors, the podium finisher of last year's edition was not cleared to participate due to an injury suffered nine months ago. This has been confirmed by the team's official lineup announcement where Urška Žigart picks up the captain band in Gigante's absence.
"I would never have chosen to go through all the setbacks, but they have taught me things," Gigante told Cyclingnews in February. "This has been the hardest one, but I think from what I've learned the other times, it's made it easier than it would have been, and I think the number one thing is for sure not being afraid to ask for help, and really relying on the people around me.
The broken femur has forced the Australian climber to sit out the entire 2026 season so far. That also applies to the upcoming Giro d'Italia Women where Gigante would've normally been defending her podium result and two stage wins from key mountain stages.
"The team has been so supportive as well, so making sure I'm surrounded by the right people, that's for sure been key, and also patience. I'm quite impatient already, like I was dying at camp when I couldn't do the full training lengths of the other girls, or some girls were already out racing at Valencia, and I was just watching them from my room.
No Down Under, No Giro, ...
In addition, the long period off competition means that next to the first two Grand Tours of the 2026 season, Gigante obviously had to give up racing on home soil too. The 2024 Tour Down Under champion is therefore awaiting racing return with a notable impatience.
"I love racing, so patience has been hard for me. I really wanted to race the Australian summer, and I couldn't, so that's something that I am still not perfect at, but for sure, patience has been something I've learned, and there will always be another race."
Ready. Set. GIROOOO 🇮🇹💕
— AG Insurance - Soudal Pro Cycling Team (@agsoudal) May 28, 2026
Our 7️⃣ wolves are ready for nine days of racing at the Giro Women. 🙌🏼
Race preview: https://t.co/PHnFMlst10#AGInsuranceSoudal I @girowomen pic.twitter.com/hHmLOAn8Kq
We have to wait a bit longer
Gigante's return was originally planned for March before she revealed it would instead likely be in May. But May will pass soon enough, and there's no sign of the Australian's return for the time being.
"It has been a long rehab, longer than I thought, harder than I thought, but now I'm in a good place. I've had a lot of support from both AG Insurance Soudal and the people back home looking after me at the Victorian Institute of Sport, so I'm super lucky in that regard," said Gigante back in February.
Sarah Gigante during 2025 Giro d'Italia Women
"I wouldn't recommend breaking your femur, though. It has been hard, both physically and mentally, but now I'm feeling really excited. It's so good to be back with the team, and I feel like I've gone from rehab to finally training and feeling like a cyclist rather than a patient."
"The team really just wants to give me all the time possible and more to come back super strong and to the races that suit me," she said. "So I just have to wait a little bit longer to fit on a number, but hopefully when I do come back, then it'll be full gas."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment