Preview Gran Piemonte 2024 | Will Hirschi once again show off his insane autumn legs?

Since Saturday, cycling fans from Italy have been treated royally with a delicious autumn race almost daily. The Giro dell'Emilia, the Coppa Agostoni, the Coppa Bernocchi, and the happily canceled Tre Valli Varesine provided a real cycling spectacle. So, after a rare rest day on Wednesday, we get the Gran Piemonte on Thursday.

Different types of riders have won this race in the past. For example, former Giro and Tour winners Egan Bernal, Sonny Colbrelli, and Jan Bakelants are on the list of winners. The very first winner was Giovanni Gerbi in 1906. Then, he covered no less than 320 kilometers, which took him just under eleven and a half hours (!). In 2024, the riders have "only" 182 kilometers to cover between the starting place, Valdengo, and the finishing place, Borgomanero.

2023 Andrea Bagioli

*Was competed as an Italian championship

The start will be in Valdengo on Thursday, where we will set the course for the finished city of Borgomanero. The early breakaway will have to form on mostly flat roads, as the first sixty kilometers of the course are almost entirely flat. The route climbs slightly, but we can't call it real climbing.

Real climbing only begins after 110 kilometers. That's when the most challenging climb of the day is on the line: the Passo della Colma. The 8.6 km climb climbs at an average of 5.5% but has a flat middle section. The last part of the ascent is the most difficult, as the last 600 meters of the climb reach an average of 11.6%.

This is followed by a not-too-long descent, after which the next climb is scheduled. This one can be called anything but terrifying: the climb to Cremosina is just under five kilometers long and has an average gradient of 2.9%. At the summit it is just under twenty kilometers from the next summit. Also, that climb to Traversagna is by no means challenging. The ascent is 3.1 kilometers long at an average gradient of 4.1%.

At around eleven kilometers before the finish, the riders pass the finish line for the first time in Borgomanero. There then follows another local lap around the finish town. This includes a tiny climb of eight hundred meters at 5.6% at seven kilometers from the finish, after which the riders will continue downhill to the finish. The last three kilometers are flat, and the road to the finish is straight.

The man with perhaps the best autumn legs is Marc Hirschi, who finished second here last year. The Swiss rider from UAE Team Emirates already won the Coppa Agostini on Sunday and won five races in August and September. Hirschi will be in good company on Thursday, as UAE will also appear with outsider Tim Wellens at the start. Lidl-Trek also brings two very dangerous contenders to the start. In addition to reigning winner Andrea Bagioli, it brings season revelation Toms Skujins to northern Italy. The Latvian already finished two in Strade Bianche this year, fifth in the Olympic road race, and fourth in the World Championship road race. Who knows, maybe teammate Bauke Mollema can also pull something off; he has already managed to win four times in Italy.

Home rider Alberto Bettiol (Astana Qazaqstan) will also be there. The Italian champion, who won this year's Boucles de la Mayenne in addition to Milan-Turin, can do well on a hilly course like this. The same goes for Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), the winner of Milan-Sanremo 2022, who always has something extra in the descent. For their part, race-punchers Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) and Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost) hope to regain their good legs.

Three big names stand out if we look at the classic riders competing who can finish fast. Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) showed he has good legs, having recently won the GP de Québec. Vincenzo Albanese (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) has yet to win this year but recorded a list of top-10 finishes. Alex Aranburu (Movistar) has never won in Italy, but this hilly race with a flat finish should also suit him. He finished third here last year, behind Bagioli and Hirschi.

The course will probably not be challenging enough for a man like Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), but that is precisely why teammate Pavel Bittner may be able to survive the Italian hills and strike in the sprint. That is also what the fast Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) will hope for. Matteo Trentin (Tudor) could also play a role in the same scenario.

Top favorites: Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek)

The Gran Piemonte can be seen from 14:15 for subscribers of HBO Max. An hour later, at 15:15, the race will also be broadcast from Italy on Eurosport 1 and Discovery+.