Preview Gran Piemonte 2025 | UAE show without Pogacar? Plenty of contenders lining up in the Italian hill classic

The Gran Piemonte may be less well known than the Lombardy race, but it's only a year younger than The Race of the Falling Leaves. With legends such as Eddy Merckx, Gino Bartali, Roger De Vlaeminck, and Philippe Gilbert on the list of winners, the race certainly deserves respect. Last year, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was the best.

In this article:

2024 Neilson Powless
2023 Andrea Bagioli
2022 Iván García Cortina
2021 Matthew Walls
2020 George Bennett
2019 Egan Bernal
2018 Sonny Colbrelli
2017 canceled
2016 Giacomo Nizzolo
2015 Jan Bakelants

With the Gran Piemonte, you never really know what kind of race you're going to get. Just look at the list of winners: sometimes it features a top sprinter, such as Sonny Colbrelli or Daniele Bennati. Other years, it's the climbers' turn, with winners such as Egan Bernal and Rigoberto Urán. This year, it looks like it will be another good year for the men who can climb well: there are 2700 meters of climbing to be conquered, the most since 2020.

The start is moderately rolling, but after about 35 kilometers, a hilly section begins, with the cols to La Morra and Diano d'Alba as notable obstacles. The first real climb comes after 80 kilometers: the Bric della Forma (4.4 km at 6.3%) concludes the opening phase. There are still three climbs to conquer, but they are pretty challenging.

The Rocchetta Palafea is short but steep (2.7 km at 8.4%). From the top, it is still 75 kilometers to the finish. From that climb, we head towards a local circuit around the finish town of Acqui Terme. There, the Castelletto d'Erro acts as the judge: with 6.1 kilometers at 5.2%, it is not very steep, but the first sections (2.5 km at 9%) are. A freak thing, in other words!

That climb has to be conquered twice. The last lap starts 33.5 kilometers from the finish, after which the top of the last climb is 15 kilometers from the finish. The descent is tricky, but the last part will be flat and straight: not ideal for a solo rider, but who still has the legs to catch up with someone?

Times
Start: 12:15 PM local time (06:15 AM EDT)
Finish: 4:15 PM local time (10:15 AM EDT)

No Tadej Pogacar this time, does that mean an open race? We'll have to wait and see, as Isaac Del Toro will be present. If the Slovenian is the king of the fall, the Mexican is the crown prince, with no fewer than five victories in Italy since September. Moreover, UAE Emirates-XRG has more irons in the fire with Pavel Sivakov and Alessandro Covi.

However, there will undoubtedly be outsiders at the start. For example, Neilson Powless, last year's strongest rider, will be there. All-rounder Vincenzo Albanese will assist the American from EF Education-EasyPost. Last year's number 3, Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), will also be there. Alberto Bettiol and Christian Scaroni will typically call the shots for XDS Astana.

Who else? Alpecin-Deceuninck is counting on the retiring Gianni Vermeersch and Quinten Hermans, while Bahrain Victorious is bringing good old Damiano Caruso and Matej Mohoric. Uno-X has the strong Andreas Leknessund and Tobias Halland Johannessen.

Jayco AlUla also comes to Italy with ambition, bringing Ben O'Connor and Michael Matthews for a final that requires a fast sprint. In that latter scenario, Movistar also has a fast man at the start in Orluis Aular, as does Picnic PostNL with Tobias Lund Andresen.

It remains to be seen how far Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) can keep up, although the British team has Michal Kwiatkowski, who should be able to perform well on this terrain. For Lidl-Trek and Lennard Kämna, we will have to wait and see how good their legs are.

Top favorite: Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Outsiders: Pavel Sivakov (UAE Emirates-XRG), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) and Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana)
Long shots: Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), Ben O'Connor, Michael Matthews (both Jayco AlUla) and Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers)

Eurosport 1 and HBO Max will provide live coverage of the Italian race. Both channels will start broadcasting at 2:50 PM local time.