From Friday the 30th of June Liv Racing TeqFind will be racing in the second Grand Tour of the season: Giro Donne. In 2022 the peloton started the Giro Donne on Sardinia.
This year the final two stage will take place on this island. A short time trial over 4,4 kilometres in Chianciano Terme is the first assignment of the riders during this Giro Donne. The second stage is flat until the intermediate sprint, just after this sprint the Passo della Colla (9,9 km, 5,8%) waits for the riders. The summit of this climb is at 16 kilometres from the finish line. One day later the word is to the sprinters with a almost flat stage to Modena. The fourth undulating stage has three categorised climbs in the final part of the stage, so it seems suited for a breakaway.
In the fifth stage the peloton starts with the hard climb Passo del Lupo (9,9 km, 8,6%), followed by a hilly final and an uphill finish. Stage six and seven are also undulating and will have an uphill finish. After a travel and rest day to Sardinia the peloton starts in Nuoro for stage 8, where another uphill finish awaits. The final stage contains 1.575 altitude metres, but the final 30 kilometres are downhill to Olbia.
Liv Racing TeqFind brings a strong seven rider squad to the start in Chianciano Terme. Rachele Barbieri, Valerie Demey, Mavi Garcia, Marta Jaskulska, Tereza Neumanova, Katia Ragusa and Quinty Ton will defend the team colors during this stage race.
During last year`s Giro Donne Barbieri finished in the top-10 three times before she took the second place in the final stage. The Italian sprinter is eager to show her fast legs again. “After the RideLondon Classique I took a little break to recharge my batteries. Then I headed to Livigno for an altitude training camp. The training went well and I feel ready for this Giro. It would be nice to repeat the Giro of last year, although the course will be hard. I want to make a good start in the short time trial. The third stage finishes in my own region, so there I want to do a good sprint. Of course the stage win or a podium spot is our goal. In the other stages I will try to survive and help the team and Mavi as much as I can.”
Stages
30/06, stage 1: Chianciano Terme – Chianciano Terme (4,4 km, ITT)
01/07, stage 2: Bagno a Ripoli – Marradi (102,1 km)
02/07, stage 3: Formigine – Modena (118,2 km)
03/07, stage 4: Fidenza – Borgo Val di Toro (134 km)
04/07, stage 5: Salassa – Ceres (103,3 km)
05/07, stage 6: Canelli – Canelli (104,4 km)
06/07, stage 7: Albenga – Alassio (109,1 km)
07/07, restday
08/07, stage 8: Nuoro – Sassari (125,7 km)
09/07, stage 9: Sassari – Olbia (126,8 km)