“Unpredictable” Gran Piemonte on the path of Team Polti Kometa

With the Trittico Lombardo behind us, capped by the cancellation of the Tre Valli Varesine due to rain, it’s time to turn our attention to the upcoming end-of-season Italian classics. Next up is the Gran Piemonte, a typically autumn competition that has varied over the years: sometimes favoring climbers, other times faster wheels, and at other times classics hunters…

The 180-plus kilometers that will traverse half of Piedmont’s provinces tomorrow could end in either a large or reduced bunch sprint: the pass of Colma two-thirds through the route, followed by the short climbs of Cremosina and Traversagna, tempting attackers until the false flat finale. For this reason Polti Kometa will line up riders suited to various scenarios: sprinter Giovanni Lonardi (coming off strong results in Croatia) will be supported by captain Mirco Maestri, climber Matteo Fabbro, the combative Fran Muñoz, the explosive Jhonatan Restrepo and both of the Bais brothers.

Speaking of the latter, Davide Bais (featured alongside Mattia in the header image above) is participating in his first Gran Piemonte and his last race of the 2024 season: “This weekend, and more broadly this year, with crashes and setbacks have not been lucky for me. That only gives me more motivation to deliver a great performance and contribute to the best possible result for the team, before taking a break and resetting for a 2025 back at my best level!”

The sports director for the event could only be a true Piedmont native like Giovanni Ellena: “This is an unpredictable course that will depend a lot on how the peloton approaches it, I think a favorite like Hirschi will try to avoid a mass finish and we are ready for any scenario.”