Sweden's late-summer stage race for women
Open de Suède Vårgårda
A compact stage race in western Sweden that rewards consistency, tactical awareness, and the ability to handle wind more than mountains.
- Location
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- Course
- Race
- Most recent winner
- 🇫🇷 Audrey Cordon-Ragot (2022)
- Also known as
- Open de Suede Vargarda
- Category
- Race
About Open de Suède Vårgårda
Giro Donne Open de Suède Vårgårda is a multi-day women's cycling stage race held in August in the Västra Götaland region of Sweden. The race typically features a mix of road stages, time trials, and the technical, wind-exposed roads around Vårgårda.
Also known as: Open de Suede Vargarda · Open de Suède Vårgårda · Vårgårda Road Race
The race carries the Giro Donne name as part of the Italian tour's international expansion into northern Europe.
This race offers a late-season proving ground for riders who thrive on variety rather than pure climbing. The Swedish countryside around Vårgårda is deceptively challenging: flat enough to encourage aggressive racing, technical enough to split groups, and windy enough to punish inattention. The compact format rewards riders who can handle time trials, crosswinds, and tactical road stages without a single mountain in sight.
Open de Suède Vårgårda winners
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 🇫🇷Audrey Cordon-Ragot |
| 2019 | 🇮🇹Marta Bastianelli |
| 2018 | 🇳🇱Marianne Vos |
| 2017 | 🇫🇮Lotta Lepisto |
| 2016 | 🇸🇪Emilia Fahlin |
| 2015 | 🇧🇪Jolien D'Hoore |
| 2013 | 🇳🇱Marianne Vos |
| 2011 | 🇳🇱Annemiek van Vleuten |
| 2009 | 🇳🇱Marianne Vos |
| 2006 | 🇸🇪Susanne Ljungskog |
Current edition
The next edition is not published yet. Check the race directory and calendar for the next confirmed listing.
Open de Suède Vårgårda route
The race is typically decided by a combination of time-trial performance and road-race positioning on stages where wind and echelons matter more than elevation. The roads around Vårgårda are narrow, technical, and exposed, and the parcours usually includes at least one individual time trial that can create or erase significant gaps. Climbers rarely dominate here. Instead, the race favors all-rounders with strong time-trial engines, the tactical sharpness to position themselves in crosswinds, and the technical skill to navigate tight corners and narrow farm roads at speed. The GC is often decided by seconds rather than minutes, and a single moment of inattention in an echelon or a poor time trial can end a rider's classification hopes.
What shapes the race
Swedish circuit racing
Multiple laps of a circuit in Vargarda Municipality, Vastra Gotaland. The final edition featured 8 laps of an 11 km circuit.
Gravel sectors
Approximately 9 km of gravel on the southern loop added an unpredictable element rare in Scandinavian racing.
History
Memorable editions
- 2006
Inaugural edition
Swedish home rider Susanne Ljungskog won the first edition on home soil.
- 2022
Vos disqualified in final edition
Marianne Vos crossed the line first but was disqualified for an irregular sprint, handing victory to Audrey Cordon-Ragot in the race's last running.
Iconic victories
Marianne Vos
Three wins (2009, 2013, 2018), the most successful rider in the race's history.
Susanne Ljungskog
Inaugural winner on home soil in 2006, giving the race a strong Swedish identity from the start.
Annemiek van Vleuten
Won in 2011 before her rise to dominant force in women's cycling.
Eras and records
Held from 2006 to 2022 (15 editions). The race ended when the organizing Vargarda Cykelklubb ceased operations.
Most wins
Marianne Vos, 3 (2009, 2013, 2018).
Race span
15 editions from 2006 to 2022, skipping 2020 and 2021 (COVID).