Il Lombardia / Gran Piemonte

Tecent bronze medallist in Limburg leads strong Movistar Team at the Foglie Morte, two days after their team-mates take part at Gran Piemonte

After their satisfactory performance last week in the World Championships, where the Movistar Team riders claimed two bronze medals, the telephone squad is back on track on Italian soil with two prestigious races in the Northern part of the country: the Gran Piemonte (Thursday 27) and Il Lombardia (Saturday 29), the last UCI World Tour event of the season in Europe and the fifth monument in the international classics’ calendar.

At the Foglie Morte, the squad directed by José Luis Arrieta will feature Alejandro Valverde, following his third place at Limburg’s road race and back to a Lombardy race he didn’t take part in since 2005 (12th). The Spaniard will thus be joining an already powerful Blue outfit at the start in Piedmont two days earlier, with Italians Giovanni Visconti and Marzio Bruseghin, Portuguese Rui Costa, Costa Rican Andrey Amador, Colombian Nairo Quintana and Spaniards Pablo Lastras and Iván Gutiérrez.