Giro Donne 2023 saved in 11th hour

On Thursday, the imminent future of the Giro Donne 2023 looked doomed. However, by Friday morning, it seems like the Italian Women’s WorldTour race will go on as planned. The main issue was the unresolved matter of assigning the television rights for the race. Infront Italia had given up the TV deal after a decision made by the Italian Cycling Federation to give the the race to RCS Sport from 2024 onwards. Currently, the race is owned by a company named Starlight.

Emergency meeting of the Italian cycling committee at 6pm today about Giro Donne.

A €730.000 invoice for the television production that organiser Starlight wants FCI to help cover.

They need tv to save the WWT status or else RCS can withdraw https://t.co/0rX3CXp4AL

— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) June 23, 2023

TV coverage is crucial to the race

Without televised coverage the race organizers found themselves in hot water. Having TV production is a prerequisite for a race to be included in the Women’s World Tour. Without a broadcast of the race, the event would be downgraded. That would be disastrous for the Giro Donne, which is precisely what happened in 2021. The race returned to the WWT in 2022 after they promised to adhere to the UCI minimum broadcast requirement.

The Giro Donne is saved with a week to go

A last-minute deal between the federation and Radiotelevisione italiana (Rai) came to the rescue to salvage the race. The agreement ensures the broadcasting of race footage, with a financial commitment from the federation. Although the exact amount is expected to be substantial, it is said to be lower than the 730,000 Euro that had been mentioned previously in Italian media . Thanks to this deal, the transmission of television images is now assured, and will guarnatee that the race continues in the Women’s World Tour.

The Giro Donne begins June 30 with a 4.4 km prologue in Chianciano. The entire race goes for 9 days, with the last stage ending in Olbia.