Giro Donne 2022 - Who can beat Annemiek van Vleuten? Five riders to watch in battle for maglia rosa

After a year spent at the Pro level, the organisers of the women’s Giro d’Italia have made the changes necessary to earn the race’s promotion back to the World Tour. Rebranded the Giro Donne, we’ve been promised the biggest, most professional, and most watchable edition of the race yet. There will be two hours of live TV coverage per day, with every stage streamed live and on demand on discovery+, which ought to be sufficient to prevent you missing the most unmissable parts of each stage.

The long-term survival of the race depends on it as, for the first time, the race faces stiff competition from the new Grand Tour in town. There’s no overlap — the eight-stage Tour de France Femmes starts 13 days after the 10-day Giro Donne — but while a number of riders have decided to do the double, several big names are putting their eggs in the shiny new race’s basket. Ad/> The Women’s World Tour is not yet as big as the men’s, and few teams have the strength in-depth to field comparably strong squads for both races.

Several have, however, stepped up. Trek-Segafredo, FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine, Canyon Sram and Team DSM have all announced six-rider sides more than capable of sustaining a GC challenge — with top-tier team leaders to boot. Giro d'Italia DonneGiro Donne 2022 — Who is riding? How can I watch? Who are the favourites for the maglia rosa?AN HOUR AGO Here are our five to watch.