Named after Italy’s best ever riders, who between them won a dozen Grand Tours and 16 Monuments, Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali returns next week for its 41st edition. Traditionally held in Emilia-Romagna, the race will venture this year into other regions of the country, such as Piemonte, Lombardia, and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia.
The opening stage will run through one of the most famous wine regions in the world, taking the peloton from Barbaresco to Barolo, where an uphill finish coming just ten kilometers from the top of the last climb will see the first leader’s jersey being awarded. In Masalengo, the sprinters are sure to get their biggest opportunity, before making way for the attackers on the roads to Iseo. On the penultimate day, there should be more action on the up and down course to Valdobbiadene, but the toughest test of the week will come on the final stage, when the bunch tackles the Gemona del Friuli climb.
Soudal Quick-Step will be at the start of this race which we won in 2023 with a nice mix of World Tour and Devo riders: Gil Gelders, Maximilian Schachmann, Martin Svrcek, Federico Savino, Jasper Schoofs, Viktor Soenens, a top ten finisher at Volta Comunitat Valenciana last month, and Erazem Valjavec.
It’s an interesting edition of Coppi e Bartali, featuring some new but demanding stages which should make for an exciting GC battle.
“The parcours is hilly and gives many opportunities to the climbers but also to those prepared to gamble everything on a late attack. Our team for the week is a young one, but we are confident that we will see the guys in the mix for some nice results”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
