Four one-day races in as many days between 4-7 October.
Giro dell’Emilia, Coppa Agostoni, Coppa Bernocchi and Tre Valli Varesine will be our team’s next appointments – four beautiful one-day races suited to the climbers and attackers alike. The first of these is Emilia, which is one of Italy’s oldest races, culminating atop the San Luca, the gruelling 2km climb lying just outside of Bologna – home to the oldest university in the world. Twenty-four hours later, a total of twelve climbs await the peloton in Agostoni, but as the last of these comes 35 kilometers from the finish, a small chance to have a regrouping is possible.
On Monday, the sprinters will have their best opportunity of these four races in Coppa Bernocchi – which our team has won on two occasions – but also here the attackers could prevail thanks to the presence of the Piccolo Stelvio, which the peloton will tackle seven times. Finally, Tuesday afternoon, Varese – the host of the 2008 World Championships – welcomes the riders for the 104th edition of Tre Valli Varesine, whose relentless hilly parcours boasting an elevation gain of 3300 meters is perfect to make the difference before the last difficulty of the day.
A total of nine Soudal Quick-Step riders will be in action during this solid block of racing in Italy, including Ethan Hayter, Luke Lamperti, and Mikel Landa – who will pin a number for the first time since completing La Vuelta three weeks ago.
“From Emilia to Agostoni and from Bernocchi to Tre Valli, we’ll take on many beautiful but difficult roads, which are sure to make for some exciting racing. We are confident that we can race hard, especially as we have more cards to play. We are The Wolfpack and we are motivated to show ourselves and fight for some nice results. The last couple of weeks have been great for our squad and we’d like to keep the ball rolling in Italy as we inch closer to the end of the season”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
Giro dell’Emilia: Ethan Hayter, James Knox, Mikel Landa, Thomas Pesenti, Andrea Raccagni, Pieter Serry, Mauri Vansevenant.
Coppa Agostoni: Mattia Cattaneo, James Knox, Luke Lamperti, Thomas Pesenti, Andrea Raccagni, Mauri Vansevenant.
Coppa Bernocchi: Ethan Hayter, James Knox, Luke Lamperti, Thomas Pesenti, Andrea Raccagni, Pieter Serry.
Tre Valli Varesine: Mattia Cattaneo, Gianmarco Garofoli, Ethan Hayter, James Knox, Mikel Landa, Pieter Serry, Mauri Vansevenant.
Photo credit: ©Antonio Baixauli / Getty Images
