Giro d'Italia Women 2026 Stage 1 recap: Lorena Wiebes wins sprint finish but later thrown out of race for bike weight violation

There was drama after the stage, as Wiebes was thrown out after taking the win for a weight violation with her bike.

Late on Saturday, race organisers issued a statement saying Wiebes had been ejected for the "use of a bicycle not in compliance with the regulations, specifically failing to meet the minimum weight requirements". 

With Wiebes out of the race, Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo will start Stage 2 in the maglia rosa.

We'll be back tomorrow for Stage 2, which looks to be another sprinter's paradise. Live coverage starts at 11:45AM so we'll be entertaining you from then. Ciao!

It's not been the most enthralling start to a grand tour, but the finale didn't disappoint. We only had one breakaway of note today, with three riders who managed to get a couple of minutes on the bunch. This was brought back just before the peloton reached the finishing circuits in Ravenna.

The pace increased and the peloton stretched out as the riders hit the technical street circuit four times, with no attacks from the bunch.

Coming into the closing kilometres and the lead outs began, with SD Worx-Protime bringing in fire power in the form of Anna van der Breggen to the front to control the race. Coming out of the final hairpin, Wiebes was perfectly positioned to launch her sprint with about 300 metres to go, and nobody could match her speed.

🥇Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)

🥈 Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)

🥉Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ)

Like I told my driving instructor after passing my test, "never in doubt, Darren." Wiebes timed that to perfection, and nobody could come around her.

It's all to play for, the big names are dropping their lead out riders, but who will go first?

Lucinda Brand, her teammate is doing a great job of keeping Balsamo safe and just behind van der Breggen.

Anna van der Breggen is working hard for Lorena Wiebes here, after FDJ-Suez call back Vittoria Guazzini from the front.

The lap is fast, and it looks like a lot of team organisation has gone out of the window with some sprinters looking like they've depleted their lead outs already.

They're working hard, possibly for Célia Gery to give her a chance at a sprint win.

A fan steps into the road and the riders have to think quickly to avoid a crash

Two riders go down, from EF Education-Oatley and Aromitalia Vaiano

The peloton is still all together as the bell is rung for the final lap.

It's unlikely to go another way, unless a team that doesn't have a dedicated fast finisher wants to shake things up. So, who's your bet for today? Wiebes is the obvious choice, but it would be great to see someone like Maggie Coles-Lyster from Human Powered Health or Elisa Balsamo from Lidl-Trek take the maglia rosa

This the first race back for the Swiss rider since her crash at the Tour of Flanders, so although she won't be going for the sprint today, it's a stressful city circuit and it could be that she's feeling a little nervous in the bunch.

The peloton is all together, if a little loosely. It's stretched out but nobody moving on the attack. It looks like everyone is happy for it to go to a bunch sprint so far.

The technical circuit is leading to the peloton really stringing out, and we're seeing some of the GC riders sticking to the front for safety

Riders who are nervous in the bunch are going to really struggle in these closing kilometres