Giro dell’Appennino and Giro del Trentino

Two important Italian races are on the calendar leading up to the Giro d'Italia, the Giro dell’Appennino and Giro del Trentino.

The 73rd edition of the Giro dell’Appennino, a one day race of 194.5 km, is on Sunday, April 15th. Nineteen teams will be racing including Lampre-ISD and Liquigas-Cannondale. It will be the first time a Chinese team (with five Italian riders), CHN Champion System Pro, will be in a road race in Europe.

Then, on Tuesday the 36° Giro del Trentino stage race begins, traditionally a valuable test before the Giro d'Italia. This is the program:
April 17, Stage 1, team time trial, Riva del Garda – Arco
April 18, Stage 2, Mori – Sant'Orsola Terme/Val dei Mòcheni
April 19, Stage 3, Pergine/Coop Piccoli Frutti – Brenzone/Punta Veleno
April 20, Stage 4, Castelletto di Brenzone – Passo Pordoi/Val di Fassa

Teams:
LAMPRE - ISD
LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE
AG2R LA MONDIALE
ASTANA PRO TEAM
BMC RACING TEAM
TEAM EUROPCAR
COLOMBIA - COLDEPORTES
ACQUA & SAPONE
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI - VENEZUELA
CHAMPION SYSTEM PRO CYCLING TEAM
FARNESE VINI SELLE ITALIA
COLNAGO - CSF INOX
SPIDERTECH POWERED BY C10
TEAM NETAPP
UTENSILNORD NAMED
UNITEDHEALTHCARE PRO CYCLING TEAM
TEAM IDEA


Everyone is waiting to see what happens on Stage 3 when a pro race will take on the Punta Veleno ascent for the first time. Coming at the end of a 167,8 km stage it will be terrible. Above: Lake Garda in the background as riders climb Punto Veleno, click to enlarge.

Punta Veleno related stories:
Team Colombia Coldeportes on Punta Veleno
Punta Veleno, More Difficult than Zoncolan and Mortirolo
Eros Poli's First Visit to Punta Veleno

Coverage of the race will be broadcast on Raisport and Eurosport. If these are not available to you check cyclingfans.com and steephill.tv for streaming feeds.


Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.