The Giro dell’Appennino squad unleashes its pedal stroke on the Lugano circuit
GP Città di Lugano
Lugano – Lugano (179,2 km; 8 x22,4)
Cycling is a sport rich in magical places, mystical enclaves, epoeyes and traditions that are recurrently recalled and others that are evoked from time to time. An amalgam of climbs and slopes, of etymologies and toponyms, of human beings and bicycles. And this absolute richness, also cities with a special light as far as this sport is concerned. Lugano is undoubtedly one of these cities. The Swiss city in the canton of Ticino has hosted world championships and every June it hosts, promoted by its Velo Club Lugano, a Gran Premio Città di Lugano which in 2021 will be the debut of the ProTeam structure of the Contador Foundation on Swiss soil.
The race is not an absolute stranger, as past projects in the continental category have already participated before. But this 2021 race is of special interest because the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team is coming from very good performances in a growing dynamic where they have achieved very important stage victories in the Giro d’Italia or stage and overall in the Adriatica Ionica Race. And the course in Lugano lends itself like few others to the skirmish, the offensive, the daring, the lack of complexes and the fight, all qualities shown by the team over the last few months.
The circuit that hosts the Gran Premio Città di Lugano is by no means simple and the accumulated total of its eight turns brings a cumulative elevation gain of nearly 4,000 metres in a race of less than 180 kilometres. The numbers are very clear. Agra, Collina d’Oro, which in the end is six kilometres in which there will be ramps of up to 12%, and the Sorengo climb, given its proximity to the finish, will be a great wear and tear for the whole peloton. On the part of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team the same team that will have faced this Thursday the Giro dell’Appennino, another race with a demanding and demanding profile: Davide Bais, Mattia Frapporti, Luca Wackermann, Sergio García, Arturo Grávalos, Alejandro Ropero, Diego Pablo Sevillla.
“Both the Giro dell’Appennino and the Grand Prix of Lugano are two complicated races, each in their own way. The Lugano circuit is very demanding, it’s a race that gives no respite because at the start you have a big climb, the subsequent terrain is downhill or favourable but you can’t be careless because there will surely be people who try it and then the last climb will be at full speed and there will surely also be movements. It will be a very dynamic race, with a lot of changes of pace. We have a very interesting team and we can do well”, says Alejandro Ropero.
