Giro d'Italia Women, the race that will see 22 teams take part in the eight-stage Giro d'Italia competition totalling 876.7 km from Brescia to L'Aquila, started on 7th July and will continue until 14 July.
The event will feature a wealth of highly talented athletes, including the best female cyclists on the international scene and many of the leading Italian representatives of the sport.
TIM is the Official Connecting Partner of this 35th edition, with the aim of highlighting the talent and passion of the athletes and helping to overcome gender bias and stereotypes even in the world of sport. We will provide connectivity for the various travelling headquarters, the International Timekeepers Federation and all the TV Compound that broadcasts this extraordinary women's race to the public.
The link between sport and gender bias is still too pronounced. With the Equality Can't Wait campaign launched in 2023, we highlighted how female participation in the world of sport has been increasing in recent years, reaching 40% of participants in all competitions. Yet, according to research conducted by the International Association for Communication and Sport, media coverage of women's sport is only 5%, a percentage that drops to 4% if we exclude sporting events of global significance, such as the Olympics.
But there is even more. Besides being hardly visible, sportswomen are also highly stereotyped: UNESCO showed that the media tend to portray sportswomen as women first and foremost, referring to their appearance, age or family life, and only later as athletes. In contrast, male athletes are immediately portrayed as independent, powerful and dominant.
The gap between the two sexes in the world of sport is extremely wide and does not only concern visibility in competitions: just think of economic aspects, remuneration, and participation in decision-making processes within sports institutions.
In our society - and not only in sports - the path to economic and career equity for women is still a long one. But at TIM we are convinced that talent, passion, courage and commitment have no gender, which is why initiatives such as the sponsorship of Giro d'Italia Women represent for us a concrete contribution to raising awareness of change and supporting female empowerment.
Find out where and when to follow the athletes competing at Giro d'Italia Women https://www.giroditaliawomen.it/