The racing will get under way a day after an opening ceremony was held in the Slovenian capital. The opening stage will feature a 2-kilometre time trial in the streets of Ljubljana.

On Saturday, the racers will embark on a 102.5-km stage from the town of Kamnik to the BTC City shopping district in Ljubljana. The stage will follow much of the route for the popular Franja amateur cycling marathon held in Slovenia earlier in June.

The time trial and the open road stage will be followed by eight stages across Italy, finishing on 12 July in San Domenico di Varzo.

The race will see the only Slovenian professional women's cycling team BTC City compete for the second time.

"It is not only a big success for the cyclists but also for all partners and organisers who have managed to host such a big event," sports director and coach of the BTC City cycling team Gorazd Penko said ahead of the event.

Slovenian cyclists first competed in the Giro Rosa last year, ranking 16th in the overall International Cycling Union (UCI) standings among 31 teams.