Adriatica Ionica Race: shall we try again?

Friday, Sept. 22
Stage 1, Corropoli-Trasacco 223.4 km.

Saturday, Sept. 23
Stage 2, Conversarno-Castellaneta 182.7 km

Sunday, Sept. 24
Stage 3, Cassano allo Ionio-Crotone 188.2 km

We, this race, have already won it. And that triumph of Lorenzo Fortunato at the Adriatica Ionica Race in 2021 is an indelible and beautiful memory that makes us repeat only one thing: let’s try again. The race “On the Routes of the Serenissima” that joins the Adriatic and Ionian seas moves further south than in past editions, proposing three stages where there will be no shortage of climbs and difficulties, a hunting ground for our spikes Fortunato, Albanese and Piganzoli who will be supported to the best of their ability by Alex Martin, Diego Sevilla, Mattia Bais and Andrea Garosio who will replace Davide Bais who stayed home due to a flu.

Three stages, we said. It starts on Friday with the Corropoli-Trasacco, while the next day could be the decisive one with the uphill finish of the Conversano-Castellaneta. Last stage in Calabria, with the Cassano allo Ionio-Crotone.

Going into detail, here is that the first stage sees a 4-km climb after the start and then the ascent to the Capannelle Pass: very long, 30 km with no major gradients. The peloton will then climb the Altopiano delle Rocche plateau, the Valico della Forcella before the Valico Olmo di Bobbi: the toughest of the day, located 50 km from the finish, which includes 10 km at 6.5 percent. The next day goes to Puglia with the uphill finish: first 3.3 km to Castellaneta and then to Selva San Vito. The finale features gradients around 5 percent. The race will close on Sunday in Calabria with the climbs all concentrated in the first part: the climb to Piano Caruso is tough, but the finish is still far away and the stage presents no other difficulties.

Stefano Zanatta: “Here is a race that we have always liked, one year we won it with Fortunato and last year we fought until the end for the top positions. We go with great ambitions and we bring a team that in the last races has shown good condition, especially with Albanese, Fortunato and Piganzoli. We will try to interpret the race in the best way to be able to get at least a stage success, unfortunately we will miss an important man like Davide Bais who got sick on his way back from Slovakia but we have a team that will allow us to confirm all the progress shown in these last races in Italy.”