Italian cycling star Elisa Longo Borghini believes the new position of Giro d'Italia women, rebranded in the 2024 calendar, will be a strong field for next summer's Olympics. New organisers RCS Sport officially launched the 2024 edition of the race on Friday ・ formerly known as the Giro d'Italia Don, but now known as the Giro d'Italia Woman. Previously it started in the late 6th month, and in 2024 there are 7 stages from 7-14 to 8. This means that it will continue to overlap with the men's Tour de France, which attracts attention. However, with the Giro's organization now aligned with the men's event, it is expected that the level of professionalism and media exposure surrounding the long-running women's race will more closely align with what will be seen on the Moon's Grand Tour. "For me, it's the perfect combination," Longo Borghini told Cyclingnews. "It's a perfect race right before the Olympics, and I think a lot of other riders are doing the same thing," he said."
The organizers and dates of the Giro are not the only changes as while the course of the women's race has not yet been revealed, it has been disclosed that in 2023 there will be 9 stages in place of the 9 editions of the stand-alone and the previous 10 editions instead of the 8.
"People are always discussing the length of these stage races, but at the Tour de France we showed that it was a great showcase only on eight stages. So I don't see the 8 stages of the Giro as what we're losing. But certainly we are winning," said Longo Borghini, focusing on the bigger picture. "We get a lot of media attention, we win the spectacle and the audience, we are so close to the Olympics, so many big stars will surely attend," he said."The fact that the women's Giro d'Italia has traditionally been close to the French race since the full・scale revival of the Tour de France Femmes in 2022 means that some big names like Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and Longo Borghini (Lidl・Trek) have chosen to focus on purely yellow jerseys. However, the Tour de France Femme will be held later this year for the Olympics, with the women's Road Race on May 4 and the French Women's Tour from May 12.
As for the grand tour to be tackled by these big stars in 2024, Longo Borgini, who has lined up in the 12 editions of the Giro d'Italia women and stood twice on the overall podium, wants a challenging route for his 13th participation.
"I want to see a really hard Giro d'etalia because I always say that the Giro is the most difficult race in the most beautiful country," said the Italian road and time trial double champion, clarifying her love for her hometown.
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