CANYON//SRAM Racing head into one of the most prestigious races on the UCI Women’s World Tour calendar, the ten-day Giro Rosa stage race starting Friday 6 July with a seven-rider roster.

The team’s line up will be newly crowned Belarusian road and time trial champion Alena Amialiusik with Italian favourite Elena Cecchini. The Barnes’ come in double strength when Alice Barnes and her sister, new British TT champion Hannah Barnes, both line up. This year’s Giro Rosa includes two races against the clock with a team time trial (TTT) opening stage and an uphill individual time trial on stage seven.

Former Giro Rosa stage winner Tiffany Cromwell should approach the tour fresh after five weeks away from racing. Alexis Ryan launches the second part of her European season at the Giro Rosa and firm favourite Kasia Niewiadoma rounds off the team’s roster.

Starting with the TTT opening stage in Verbania, the 2018 edition of the Giro Rosa remains in the north of Italy for its duration, steadily moving east for the grand finale in Cividale del Friuli, close to the hometown of Cecchini. Despite a summit finish on stage six, the uphill ITT and the infamous Monte Zoncolan on the penultimate stage, the tour offers chances to sprinters and breakaway opportunists as much as it does the GC contenders.

While the GC rivals will be looking at each other until Monte Zoncolan, Cecchini is expect a dynamic race.

“For sure our team will be racing aggressive. We have a strong group and the Giro Rosa offers chances to all types of riders. We have two good climbers, two strong sprinters and three all-rounders that can step in to any role,” suggested Cecchini.

“All of the GC women will be looking at Monte Zoncolan but I can assure everyone that it will not be the only hard climb in the Giro Rosa! This year the course is really challenging, so every stage is set to be hard and it will create a spectacular race! Personally, I’m looking forward to race the last two stages which will be on my home soil.”

Follow the action from the Giro Rosa with #GiroRosa18 and #UCIWWT and watch a delayed broadcast of the final 50 minutes of racing every day from 16:00 BST | 17:00 CEST on RaiTV, Eurosport2 and Bike Channel.

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