Giro d'Italia organiser considering women's race

Giro d'Italia organiser RCS Sport is considering a women's race to run alongside its top event. General Manager Paolo Bellino explained to Cycling Weekly that his team has discussed it.

"It's not at the top of our list but it's also not the last item," Bellino said. "We are looking over a series of things, including something for the women. It's an important subject. We want to be modern and up to date like we've always been."

The other two three-week Grand Tours announced their plans for women's races. Tour de France organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) said on February 1 that it would run a one-day race on July 27, the day the men's race finishes in Paris.

"A new event that will give an even more universal dimension to the Tour," read a press release. "A few hours before the men's peloton arrives in Paris ... the world's elite women cyclists will race the circuit in the historic heart of the city."

The Vuelta a España's race director, Javier Guillén told Spanish daily AS last month, "Like the Tour de France is doing, hosting a women's race on the final day, the Vuelta wants to do the same next year [2015] in Madrid."

RCS Sport went through a major restructuring over the winter. Bellino only started work in January after years organising other sporting events.

"I'm learning. It's not like can start and just get going," Bellino explained. "I've already had a baptism with the Dubai Tour. It helped me understand the world of cycling. I've got to understand the logistics, the budget."

RCS Sport's Tirreno-Adriatico race starts on Wednesday and the big one, the Giro d'Italia, begins May 9 in Belfast. After it, the Milan-based media group will have more time to work on a women's event that could see the light of day in 2015.

"It's one of the things that we are working on," he said. "We are working on a series of projects. It's part of a series of things we are thinking about."

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