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The most important race on the Italian autumn calendar is undoubtedly Il Lombardia, although it is by no means the only one that takes place in the country on these dates. Specifically, in a period of less than a month, up to 11 professional races are held in Italy, of which 4 are part of the ProSeries and only Il Lombardia is a WorldTour event. In this article we are going to focus on the three classics of the .Pro category that take place next week (Coppa Bernocchi - GP BPM, Tre Valli Varesine and Gran Piemonte) and culminate in the last of the 5 Monuments of the year. Of course, the “classic of the falling leaves” will have its own dedicated article in Cycling Fantasy.

All these autumn races that take place in the north of Italy have a lot of history and prestige. To get an idea, Coppa Bernocchi - GP BPM celebrates its 103rd edition this year, Tre Valli Varesine, its 101st edition, and Gran Piemonte, its 106th. Three hundred-year-old races that, despite not being part of the WorldTour, are more prestigious than many of the races that do compose the first division of world cycling.

Coppa Bernocchi - GP BPM: Route

The Coppa Bernocchi - GP BPM route consists mainly of 7 laps of a 17-kilometre circuit that includes the climbs to Piccolo Stelvio (1.5 km at 6.6%) and San Pancrazio (0.6 km at 7.8%). In the last 25 kilometers the cyclists will have to leave the circuit to head to the finish line in Legnano on a slightly descending terrain.

Tre Valli Varesine: Route

The Tre Valli Varesine is also majorly circuit racing, although this time on two different circuits. The first is 13 kilometers long and features Casbeno (2.5 km at 4.9%) and Montello (2 km at 5.2%) as ascents. The second circuit, 25 km-long, is an extension of the first circuit, which adds the climbs to Morosolo (1.6 km at 7.8%) and Casciano (1.8 km at 5%) to the two ascents of the short circuit. The cyclists will have to complete 8 laps to the first circuit and 2 to the second to add 194 kilometers.

Grand Piemonte: Route

The Gran Piemonte is the only one of these three races that does not include circuits in its route. 196 kilometers with 1332 meters of positive slope make it the most affordable race of the 3, and it is likely that we will see a large group get together to the finish line in Benasco. The only difficulty of the day is the climb to Il Pilonetto (3.3 km at 8%), which is located 60 km from the finish line, so there is plenty of ground for the sprinters’ teams to get organized to regroup the peloton.

Favorites

The start lists for the three races are still under construction, so it is difficult to talk about favorites. However, we can say that Coppa Bernocchi - GP BPM is a race for puncheurs, Tre Valli Varesine is better suited to climbers and Gran Piemonte is the best opportunity for sprinters.