Giro d’Italia Women 2024, the pink jersey with a message on the collar

It took more than thirty years of sweat, effort, legs and heart, for the cycling women had the same attention (and consideration) as the male one. The “change of pace” (and hopefully also of mentality) occurred thanks to the mix between media visibility, quality level of the athletes and training methodologies, as he told Alley Oop Ilenia Lazzaroformer athlete Elite today’s reference voice women’s cycling of Eurosport Italia. A great help was also given by the UCI (which opened up to the women’s World Tour in 2016) and the organizers of the great classics themselves who began to propose a version in pink of their competitions. Among the competitions of this cycling season, the 35th edition of the Giro d’Italia Women – scheduled for next July 7th to 14th – is among the most anticipated events.

In Milan, the presentation of a special pink jersey

The presentation ceremony of the pink jersey was the icing on the cake of an initiative organized by RTL 102.5 – radio partner of the pink race – which on the occasion of the International Women’s Day has entrusted its female voices with the hosting of all the programs and news on the schedule. The partnerships with RCS Sport and the Giro d’Italia Women 2024, in fact, are testimony to the constant commitment of the most listened to radio station in Italy (Radio TER 2023 data) in promoting gender equality and opening up spaces and opportunities for women: “We started this adventure with the Giro d’Italia which will also continue with the women’s one next July – he said Marta Suraci of the RTL 102.5 group – talking about all the values behind these competitions: from gender equality in sport to belonging to the territory which, for a national radio like ours, is another fundamental value; without forgetting the more delicate issues we deal with in everyday life. Our desire – she concludes – is to be able to be a point of reference for many women”.

A peculiarity of this year’s pink jersey is the collar, on a red background, which bears the writing “We believe in victory”; where the term victory is understood as a symbol of strength and determination of women to win in sport and in life: “The Giro d’Italia Women is one of the most important women’s cycling events in the world – she said Paolo Bellini, CEO and general director of RCS Sport – and the pink jersey represents its maximum expression. The three grand tours that we organize are important opportunities to raise people’s awareness of the issue of gender violence: this is why we have included a red background on the collar. Furthermore, the race will also be a way to raise awareness throughout the world of the territories affected by the passage of the athletes, from Lombardy to Abruzzo”.

On such an important day for women in cycling, one of the symbolic athletes of the movement did not miss out on her testimony, Marta Bastianelliworld inline champion in 2007 and European in 2018, and recently Grand Prix Le Samyn she achieved her 43rd career victory: “Before there were few cycling mothers and I was the first Italian to return to racing after pregnancy. I believe this is also the strength of women. Of course, it wasn’t easy but I had the support of a great team and my whole family. Today I am proud of having made that choice because otherwise I would have ended my career at 37 with the worry, despite the medals, that perhaps I could have achieved some more successes.”

The route of the Giro d’Italia Women 2024

The objective of the Giro d’Italia Women 2024 is to give a further boost to the women’s cycling movement, also working on the enthusiasm of the new generations. Among the initiatives in this sense, the possibility for many girls to be able to experience the arrival under the banner of the tour in a special way. Satisfaction also on the part of Cordiano Dagnonipresident of Federciclismo: “SI proudly welcome the first edition of the Giro d’Italia Women organized by RCS, with which we are working to make the movement grow. Furthermore, the Federation is carrying out numerous projects aimed at the female sector which are constantly growing. We want and must continue to work in this direction”.

And let’s get to the route. They will be eight hot days, in every sense, which promise to make selection immediately. Departure from Brescia, with the treacherous time trial of 14.6 km and arrival in L’Aquila, for a total of 857 km and almost 12,000 meters of altitude difference. In between, five stages that will make people talk not only for the variety of the landscape but above all for the many climbs that will make any prediction about the final victory difficult. In Abruzzo, the highest pass of the tour, the “Cima Alfonsina Strada”, to remember the strength and courage of the first female cyclist who challenged sporting chauvinism by participating in the 1924 Giro d’Italia and who was told she would fail and that she was wrong. What will color the event even more will be the collaboration with the Milanese association Scarpetta Rossa, which for ten years has been helping women who suffer violence through a series of initiatives, from legal and psychological consultancy to listening groups and shelters refuge.

For this reason, all the cities touched by the Giro d’Italia Women 2024 they will be illuminated in pink and red, a bold color combination but with a strong chromatic impact, just as strong as the message conveyed wants to be: “We are delighted to be able to collaborate with such an important event – he said Federica Fommeifounder of Scarpetta Rossa – because it is a recognition that allows us to enter the world of sport through the front door”.

The stages: