Cittiglio pays tribute to Alfredo Binda
The Italian town of Cittiglio, in Lombardy, hosts the oldest race on the women's calendar. The Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio, which was held for the first time in 1974, reaches its 47th edition this year. As its name suggests, the race pays tribute to Alfredo Binda, one of the best cyclists of the first half of the 20th century, who was born and died in Cittiglio. Nicknamed La Gioconda for his elegance and permanent smile, Binda won the Giro d'Italia five times (1925, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1933), Il Lombardia four times (1925, 1926, 1927 and 1931), Milano-Sanremo twice (1029 and 1931) and the World Championship three times (1927, 1930 and 1932).
Route
2045 meters of positive slope make the Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio one of the most appealing one-day races of the season for climbers and resistant puncheurs. The final circuit, 17 kilometers long, includes two climbs, a short and explosive one to Casale (0.8 km at 7%) and a longer and sustained one to Orino (3.6 km at 4%).
Favorites
Elisa Longo Borghini (1200) won the event last year for the second time in her career (2013 and 2021), but there is another woman on the start list who has more wins in Cittiglio: of course, we are talking about Marianne Vos (1200), who accumulates 4 victories (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2019). In addition, on the starting list we find 2 other winners of the race: Katarzyna Niewiadoma (1000) (2018) and Coryn Ribera (800) (2017). Other riders with options for victory are Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (1000), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (1000), Liane Lippert (800), Mavi Garcia (800), Mikayla Harvey (800) or Soraya Paladin (600), but the start list is not definitive and there may be changes.