The 12th edition of the Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Sud Tirol will take place between June 15-19 in the northern part of Italy. This women's stage race is considered an important lead up for the Giro d'Italia femminile, and is run over a challenging parcours. Starting in Trento on Wednesday, June 15, the first stage is a fairly flat 121 km, finishing in Monzambano. Stage 2, from Luna to Cembra (84 km) is a hilly stage finishing with the climb of Feado. The third stage, from Condino to Bedizzole (88 km) is an undulating one finishing with several circuits. Stage 4 from Lavis to Ruffrè Mendola (86.5 km) is the toughest stage, finishing on the Passo Mendola. The last stage takes the riders from Vipiteno to Innsbruck in Austria over 95 km, and is not particularly tough, finishing outside the Imperial Palace of Innsbruck.
There are 132 riders in 19 teams, representing 27 countries, on the start list. Favourites for the overall victory include German Judith Arndt and her teammate Tina Liebig (Nürnberger), who won this race last year. 30 year-old Lithuanian Edita Pucinskaite (Nobili Rubinetterie), Russian Svetlana Boubnenkova (PMB Fenix), and Belarusian Zinaida Stahurskaya (SS Lazio Cicli Ladispoli) will present a strong foreign challenge, while local Italian hopes will rest with Luisa Tamanini (Team Aliverti Bianchi), Fabiana Luperini (Team FRW), who has five wins in this race, Tatiana Guderzo and MTB queen Paola Pezzo.
