CyclingQuotes.com Star-studded line-ups for Italian classics

MILANO-TORINO

TRE VALLI VARESINE

29.09.2015 @ 18:40 Posted by Emil Axelgaard

The provisional entry lists are announced today for the two autumn classic cycling races, Milano-Torino and GranPiemonte. Part of the "trittico di autunno" – ‘the autumn triptych’ – their starting riders will come from 29 and 32 different countries, respectively, underlining the international importance of the events.

The Milano-Torino, the oldest classic race in the international calendar with its first edition raced in 1876 with the victory of Paolo Magretti, will be raced on Thursday 1 October starting from San Giuliano Milanese and finishing at the Basilica di Superga in Turin after 186km. Among the starters are champions such as the recent Vuelta a España winner, Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team), the winner of the last edition of Il Lombardia, the Irishman Daniel Martin (Team Cannondale - Garmin), the Australian Richie Porte (Team Sky) and the Polish Rafal Majka (Tinkoff - Saxo).

Friday 2 October will mark the return of the GranPiemonte, starting from San Francesco al Campo and finishing in Ciriè after 185km. At the start there will be many stage winners of the last edition of Giro d'Italia such as Sacha Modolo, Diego Ulissi and Jan Polanc (Lampre - Merida), Beñat Intxausti (Movistar Team), Paolo Tiralongo (Astana Pro Team), Davide Formolo (Team Cannondale - Garmin) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky), among many other cycling aces.

THE ROUTE – MILANO-TORINO

Starting in San Giuliano Milanese, this year's Milano-Torino route crosses the Pianura Padanaon flat roads with a long progression through the areas of Vigevano and the Lomellina until the start of Casale Monferrato; here the route profile of the race undulates with smooth climbs that lead to the final circuit.

After San Mauro Torinese the route follows the river Po along Corso Casale before climbing towards the Basilica di Superga for the first time. The route then descends to Rivodora along a challenging descent (dropping 600m) that takes the riders back to San Mauro before they start the climb back to the finish line with an inclination that can go over 10%. A feed station is in Pozzo Sant’Evasio, shortly after Casale Monferrato (km 91-94).

Final kilometres
The last 5km (which are repeated twice with the exception of the final 600m) start in Corso Casale, Turin. Here, the climb to the Basilica di Superga starts. Its average inclination is 9.1% with a maximum inclination around the middle of the climb of 14% and long stretches at 10%. 600m from the finish line there’s a U-turn to the left to face a 8.2% ramp before the last bend, which is only 50m from the finish line (road is 7m wide).

THE ROUTE – GRANPIEMONTE

The route is divided quite clearly into two parts. The first 110km run along the Canavese roads up to Ivrea. Here the second part begins and features quite technical climbs and descents that lead to the final 13.3km circuit in Ciriè.

Past Ivrea, the route takes in the Alice Superiore climb (7km with an average 5% gradient); then, after a short yet quite technical descent, it climbs again towards Prascorsano (8 km with a 4% average gradient, and sharp peaks over the first sector). A second tough descent leads to Rivara and Rocca Canavese. Here, the route descends slightly all the way to Ciriè, after 171.7km of racing, for the first passage to the finish line. The final 13.3km circuit is then covered once. The fixed feed zone is located in Piverone, on the SP. 228 (km 87-90).

Final kilometres
The final 13.3km circuit (to be covered once) rolls on virtually flat and relatively wide roads with just a 500m uphill stretch (with a 6% gradient) mid-circuit. The final kilometre features two 90-degree turns in the urban area; this leads to the 250m-long home straight (on a 7.5m wide asphalt road).

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