30 Sep 2021

History and tradition to kick off the month of October in the centenary races of the Italian autumn calendar

2 October: Giro dell’Emilia
4 October: Coppa Bernocchi
5 October: Tre Valli Varesine
6 October: Milano-Torino
7 October: Gran Piemonte

Cycling is a sport with deep historical roots that, in many cases, go back to the early years of the 20th century or even to the end of the previous century. Many of its major events have been held more than a hundred times or, due to the influence of the historical evolution of a century with two world wars and a multitude of other events behind it, at least a hundred years since its creation. The competitive cycle that the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team faces in this final stretch of its first season as a ProTeam structure is characterised by the fact that all the races are already a hundred years old. Five one-day races of great tradition in the Italian and continental panorama will be the prelude to the debut of the blue team in the first Monument of its history. An Italian tour among centenaries with a block of thirteen riders.

The Giro dell’Emilia, now in its 104th edition, will be the first of the races in this intense cycle of competitions. The Emilia-Romagna event presents a very tough route, with more than 3,300 metres of accumulated altitude gain over its 195 km. The terrain up to the Passo Brasa (8.3 km at 7%, gradients of 10%) and Monte Luminasio – Medelana (7.3 km at 9%, gradients of 18%) will make the first part of the race tougher as the race enters the colline Bolognesi before a frenetic final circuit of 9 kilometres in which the riders must tackle the ascent to the Sanctuary of San Luca (2.1 km at 10%, gradients of 18%) on up to five occasions, the last of which is the finish. The Hungarian Erik Fetter, the Spaniards Vicente Hernaiz and Diego Pablo Sevilla and the Italians Davide Bais, Francesco Gavazzi and Luca Wackermann make up the sextet with which the professional structure of the Contador Foundation will take part.

The non-organisation of the Gran Premio Buno Beghelli in Monteveglio for the second consecutive year, although initially scheduled for Sunday, October 3, has left a day free before the next commitment: the Coppa Bernocchi. The Legnano race, which constituted the so-called Lombard Triptych together with Tre Valli Varesine and the Coppa Agostoni, arrives with its classic passage through the Olona Valley and the ascent of the famous Piccolo Stelvio, popularly known as the Alpine colossus thanks to the five tornanti that its ascent presents. It is not a long climb, just over 1.5 kilometres, but it has a gradient of 7.1% with ramps of 16%, an area known as Caramamma, and will have to be tackled up to six times. Another urban circuit in the town of Legnano, shorter (6 km) but also difficult, will make the final selection. Vincenzo Albanese, Davide Bais, Mattia Frapporti, Francesco Gavazzi, Edward Ravasi, Samuele Rivi and Luca Wackermann will be the seven riders taking part in the Lombardy race.

The following day, Vincenzo Albanese, Mark Christian, Erik Fetter, Francesco Gavazzi, Lorenzo Fortunato, Edward Ravasi and Luca Wackermann face a very festive edition of the Tre Valli Varesine. The event organised by the Società Ciclista Alfredo Binda is celebrating its 100th edition in a special context, with a parallel gran fondo that is a real celebration of cycling and the launch of a women’s race. It is a race in Varese territory and for the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team this alone is a very important issue. The 2021 route proposes a course of almost 200 kilometres that will start from Busto Arsizio and will have a final circuit in the provincial capital with the Montello hills and the ascent to Piazza della Libertà from Via Vigevano as points to pay maximum attention to.

With no respite, on Wednesday 6th it’s the turn of a new edition of the Milano-Torino, the oldest race of all in terms of its first celebration, with a first edition dating back to no less than 1876. The race that links Lombardy and Piedmont will once again finish in the sanctuary of Superga, near Turin, after the finish in Stupinigi a year ago, more adapted to the optimisation of the calendar that the major organisers set up together with the UCI to save as best as possible a year marked by the COVID-19. It was the only time that the Milano-Torino has varied an arrival in Superga that has been consolidated since the race’s return to the calendar for 2012. The Milano-Torino is a race that has had its organisational ups and downs and between 2008 and 2011 did not take to the road. By then, the passage through Superga had already become a key moment of the race, although the finish line was located in the streets of Turin. Since 2012, however, the double passage through Superga and the finish near the basilica built by the House of Savoy, where many of its royal members are laid to rest. Five very steady kilometres at an average of over 9% mark this climb. Davide Bais, Mark Christian, Erik Fetter, Lorenzo Fortunato, Edward Ravasi, Diego Pablo Sevilla and Luca Wackermann will compete for our ProTeam structure.

The Gran Piemonte, on Thursday 7, will be the last race of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team before his debut in one of the five Monuments of cycling. A race with a very favourable profile that invites to think in the eternal battle between the adventurers who will look for the breakaway and the teams that will want to hurry their options in a mass sprint. In the Gran Piemonte, the Spanish rider David Martín Romero, one of the riders who has stood out this season in the U23 structure of the Contador Foundation and who could not make his debut in the Getxo Tour as initially planned as a result of the COVID-19, will make his debut as a stagiaire. Martin has achieved four victories this season, two of them in the Spanish Cup Elite and U23, and another five within a top-3. Vincenzo Albanese, Mattia Frapporti, Francesco Gavazzi, Samuele Rivi and Diego Pablo Sevilla are also part of a team completed, in what is expected to be his last race as a professional, by Manuel Belletti. A big round of applause for this great professional who is hanging up his bike after fourteen years as a professional.