Van der Poel and Sagan to ride UCI Gravel World Championships at the Veneto Classic
Two flagship events organised by PP Sport Events presented by Filippo Pozzato: "Sagan and Van der Poel will participate"
From 8 to 16 October the Veneto region will host an unprecedented concentration of top-level cycling events. It starts on the 8th and 9th with the first Gravel Cycling World Championships and ends on the 16th with Veneto Classic, two events organised by PP Sport Events with the support of the Veneto Region.
While the Veneto Classic is in its second year, the absolute novelty is the inaugural edition of the Gravel World Championship. For the first rainbow jersey of this discipline, Peter Sagan has already launched his candidature, but Filippo Pozzato, general manager of PP Sport Events, promises other interesting news. "Soon we will make other top names official," Pozzato anticipated, "and I hope that Mathieu Van der Poel will be among them. I am confident, we are working on it'. In the meantime, the number of professional and amateur cyclists who will line up at the start in Vicenza on 8 and 9 October to chase the rainbow of dirt roads, pedalling on white roads in the Vicenza and Padua areas, up to the finish line in Cittadella, is increasing. The number of entries is around 400.
"We have received applications from various parts of the world. We have the advantage that we organised Serenissima Gravel, the first race of this kind for professionals, last year. It returns on 14 October between the Po Delta and Piazzola sul Brenta," explained Pozzato.
"There is a deep connection between cycling and the Veneto community. Cycling represents our values here. It requires commitment, hard work, and the desire to improve,'' said regional councillor for the territory, Cristiano Corazzari. 'Gravel is also an opportunity to involve young people in the discipline,' Corazzari added. 'It is a way of meeting new needs and represents the dynamism that the world of cycling knows how to have.
"Ours is a region of cycling excellence, both sporting and entrepreneurial,” added the president of the Regional Council, Roberto Ciambetti,. “The Veneto is the natural setting for cycling events of this magnitude. What has already been done by PP Sport Events in the last few years has given wide media coverage, which represents a great opportunity for our territory'.
The same goes, naturally, for the Veneto Classic. Included in the calendar last year with the victory of Italy's Samuele Battistella, the Veneto Classic was created at the behest of Filippo Pozzato with the aim of recreating in Veneto the profile and atmosphere typical of the great Flanders classics and to showcase the beauty of the landscape and architecture of the Veneto region.
"Cycling has given me so much, so the Veneto Classic and the other events are my way of giving something back to the territory where I was born and raised, laying the foundations of a classic race that I hope will continue to grow and remain over time," Pozzato commented.
Favorites include;Greg Van Avermaet, Zdenek Stybar, Alexey Lutsenko, Nathan Haas, Gianni Wermeersch, Lawrence Naesen, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Davide Ballerini, Lilian Calmejane, Nicholas Roche, Daniel Oss, Carlos Verona and Alessandro De March.
Veneto Classic Route
This year the start is in Treviso and the finish line, like last year, in Bassano del Grappa. The race starts from Piazza Matteotti at 11.30 and passes through Piazza dei Signori and Porta San Tomaso towards Via Roma for KM 0.
After the official start at 11.40, the raiders head for Conegliano, passing Spresiano, Ponte della Priula and Susegana.
Up to this point the road is flat and fast, but after 30 kilometres the race reaches the wall of Ca' del Poggio. The route then proceeds through the most evocative panoramas of Prosecco country: Refrontolo, Pieve di Soligo, Campea, another rise in altitude at Guia, before gliding up and over the Piave at Fener. Turning westwards through the foothills of Monte Grappa, paying homage to the genius of the Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova in his hometown of Possagno, the route then descends at Pieve del Grappa and turns towards Bassano, the city of the Alpini that was so dear to Hemingway. The second half of the route is all Vicenza. A flurry of short but arduous climbs awaits the riders between Bassano and Colceresa: first three circuits with the climb of the Rosina (two kilometres, average gradient 6.5%), then another three rounds on the ring that includes the Tisa, a narrow cobbled climb of just 330 metres with an average gradient of 15.5%. Here the fans who want to see the athletes up close will enter a pay zone, for them the organisers will provide a maxi screen, music and tastings.
Back on the Vecchia Gasparona the runners will head towards Bassano, but on their way there is still an asperity, the unprecedented Diesel Farm, 1,300 metres of dirt road with gradients always in double figures. The finish line is now just around the corner. One more ramp at Contrà Soarda before crossing Ponte Nuovo. In front of the Ossario, a sharp left turn onto Via Porto di Brenta, the last effort in Via Portici Lunghi to climb up the squares and reach the finish line in Piazza Garibaldi after 190 kilometres.
The World Tour teams Astana Qazaqstan, Trek Segafredo, Uae Emirates, Lotto Soudal, Cofidis, Israel Premier Tech, and BikeExchange Jayco have already signed up.
Veneto Classic will be preceded by the 85th Giro del Veneto for professionals (12 October), Serenissima Gravel (14 October) and the social ride VENEtoGO (15 October), all events organised by PP Sport Event, which has meanwhile found new partners. Top partners include Crédit Agricole and Trenitalia.
"We have always supported sport on many fronts, but cycling has a special meaning for us," said Carlo Piana, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole Triveneto. "We are pleased to continue supporting this sport and to do so in the Veneto region, a land that has much to offer and that deeply loves cycling. The events conceived by Filippo Pozzato and his organisation speak of innovation, attachment to the territory, and sustainability, concepts that are also foundations of our corporate philosophy'.
Ivan Aggazio, Veneto Regional Director of Trenitalia: 'The bicycle is an emblem of sustainable mobility, an objective that is increasingly inspiring the choices of our company and translating into new opportunities in services. Train-bike is now an increasingly popular combination, so we are pleased to support one of the most important cycling events on the national scene'.
Photo: 2022 Giro del Veneto Elite Men's Race Profile
Veneto Classic: https://www.venetoclassic.com/en
2022 UCI Gravel World Championship
The UCI Gravel World Championship programme begins with the women's and men's over-50s trials on Saturday 8 October over a 140 km route, while the professionals will compete the next day on a 194-kilometre course that includes a final 27.5 km circuit, which they will ride twice. The men in the 19-49 age group, on the other hand, do one final lap to complete 165 kilometres. Around 75 per cent of the race route is non-asphalted.
After the start in Campo Marzo in Vicenza, the competitors will climb up to Monte Berico and Arcugnano, before descending towards Lake Fimon and heading for Montegaldella. They will enter the province of Padua, touching the villages of Selvazzano and Tancarola. The river Brenta then guides the riders towards Piazzola and Cittadella. The elite men and the competitors of the Under 49 male categories will enter a circuit between Cittadella and Tezze sul Brenta, before reaching the finish line in Piazza Pierobon in Cittadella.
Saturday 8 October:
Women Elite, Women 19-34, Women 35-39, Men 50-54, Men 55-59, Men 60+ and
Women 40+
Sunday 9 October:
Elite Men, Men 19-34, Men 35-39, Men 40-44, Men 45-49
Click here for the full list of 2022 UCI Gravel World Championship Qualified Riders: https://ucigravelworldseries.com/en/qualified-riders
2022 UCI Gravel World Championships Race Route
