"This has been the hardest setback": Sarah Gigante will miss the Giro as her rehabilitation takes longer than expected

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.

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."

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.

"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."