New September race offers timely world championship preparation
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The Giro di Padania leader will wear a green jersey.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Giro di Padania route was unveiled today in Milan.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The inaugural Giro di Padania was presented in Milan.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The organisers of the first edition of the Giro di Padania have unveiled the route of the six-day race, saying they hope to have Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC) and current world champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) on the start line on September 6.
Padania is a name coined by the Italian Lega Nord political party to describe the northern part of Italy it hopes could one day become an autonomous region.
The Giro di Padania will start in Paesana, south of Turin on Tuesday September 6 and end in Montecchio Maggiore near Venice on Saturday September 10 after crossing through the Lega Nord’s political heartland.
The five-day race clashes with the Vuelta Espana that will be held between August 20 and September 11, the GP Quebec (September 9), GP Montreal (September 11) and Tour of Britain (September 11-18). However organisers hope to attract riders looking for an alternative build-up for the world championships. There is a strong possibility an Italian team consisting of professional riders under consideration for a place in the world championships will take part.
“It’s a new stage race which has the potential to become an important race and earn a place amongst the biggest stage races in Europe,” Michelino Davico, the Italian Senator Lega Nord and key organiser, told Tuttobiciweb.it during the presentation in Milan.
“We’ve got a strategic position in the calendar, just two weeks before the world championships in Copenhagen. We hope a lot of riders will work on their form on the roads of Padania. It’s a good occasion for riders who won’t race in Spain, perhaps Tour winner Cadel Evans, who has said he won’t ride in Spain, or perhaps the current world champion Thor Hushovd will ride.
“We’ve selected a route that is fast but there will also be climbs and we’ve included circuit finishes just like the world championships. The idea of the raced is to promote our area and its history, culture and its food and wine.”
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The race leader’s jersey will be green, the colour of the Lega Nord political party.
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
