Settimana Tricolore, Italian National Championships

The "Settimana Tricolore", the Italian road championships week, gets under way tomorrow in Sicily.

The schedule:

Wednesday, Juniors (Men) road race, 123.5 km

Thursday, Juniors (Women) road race, 75.95 km; also Women's Elite road race, 119.3 km

Friday, Men's Elite road race, 155 km; also Men's U23 road race 150.9km

Saturday, Men's Professional (Elite with contract) road race, 234.9 km

Sunday, Women's Elite TT, 28.7; also U23 (Men) TT 28.7 km; also Men's Professional TT, 28.7 km.

The current road racing world champions are Giovanni Visconti and Monia Baccaille.
Monia's wish: To win the Italian title for the 3rd time in a row which has been accomplished in the past only by legendary Maria Canins.

The Men's favorites are Damiano Cunego, Vincenzo Nibali and current champion Giovanni Visconti.

The FCI, the Italian national cycling federation, recently made a decision that all riders that have been sanctioned ( six months or more) for doping infractions in the past will be prevented from taking part in the Italian championships (and in the World Championships in Copenhagen 19-25 September). The biggest losers of this rule implementation: Ivan Basso, Danilo Di Luca, Stefano Garzelli, Michele Scarponi and Alessandro Petacchi.

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 2,000 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.