A young six-man team will take on the four-day Italian race.
A hilly morning stage suited to attackers but also to some sprinters will open the 35th edition of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali next Tuesday, before the traditional afternoon team time trial, which can be split in two: a flat 5.8km section followed by a more testing second part, that will see the road rise all the way to the finish.
A testing circuit around Sogliano Al Rubicone, punctuated by several climbs that will culminate with an uphill finish, and a day that will have as main attraction the tough Monte Carpegna ascent will see the general classification contenders emerge before a mouth-watering final stage in Forli. There, in the city that Cesare Borgia conquered five centuries ago during his futile campaign of unifying Italy, a leg-sapping circuit featuring the Rocca delle Caminate (3.5km, 6.4%) will be tackled seven times.
João Almeida and Andrea Bagioli, who have put in several remarkable outings this year that produced a series of impressive results at the Volta ao Algarve, Vuelta a Burgos, Tour de l’Ain or Giro dell’Emilia, will be at the start in Gatteo, part of a very young Deceuninck – Quick-Step squad that will also include Mikkel Honoré, James Knox, Pieter Serry and another neo-pro, Mauri Vansevenant.
“We can’t wait to see our youngsters in action next week at this race which awaits us with several challenges, from the team time trial to the hard climbs that could create significant gaps between the overall contenders. We are going there pressure-free but with the same desire and motivation to get a good result, so we’ll just take it day by day and see what happens”, said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.
