Giro Donne to rebrand as ‘Giro d’Italia Women’ for 2024

New name the first change as RCS take over women’s race for first time

17:00, Thursday 12th October 2023

Matilda Price

Racing News Editor

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Annemiek van Vleuten won the 2023 edition of the Giro d'Italia Donne

The Giro d’Italia Donne will be known as the Giro d’Italia Women from 2024 onwards, as men’s Giro organisers RCS take over the race for the first time.

Now in its 35th year of existence, the women’s Giro - previously also known as the Giro d’Italia Femminile and Giro Rosa - has never been officially linked to the men’s race, but that’s changing in 2024, bringing the race in line with the Tour de France Femmes and Vuelta Femenina which are also organised by their men’s Grand Tour equivalents.

RCS will take over organising rights from next year, after the Italian federation ran a bidding process for a new organiser to take over the race after several years of somewhat sub-standard organising, most recently under PMG Sport/Starlight.

The move is expected to usher in a more professional approach to organising the event, as well as improved visibility and association with the men's Giro.

“Plenty of changes have affected women’s cycling and the Giro d’Italia in particular,” a section of the new race’s website reads. “The race has bounced around various owners, organisers and formats over the years, but consistency over time has given the Corsa Rosa a recognised prestige in the WorldTour scene. From 2024, the new Giro d’Italia Women will have the chance to further improve this trend.”

The name change - simply changing the word ‘women’ from Italian to English - may be minor, but appears to be a symbol of RCS looking to place a new brand on the race, and align it with the men’s Giro, though it will still take place in July rather than closer to the May date of the men’s race.

The 2024 edition of the Giro d’Italia Women is expected to be officially launched on Friday, during the route presentation for the men’s race. However, this will just be an initial presentation of the race and its trophy, rather than a full route announcement.

Details of the full route are expected to follow in a few weeks, which will still be a significant improvement on recent years, which has often seen a lack of clarity around the route until, in some cases, just weeks before the event.

The Giro d’Italia Women 2024 will take place from July 7-14.