Male Team 24 - 28 Jul
Adriatica Ionica Race
781 Kilometers 5 Stages
Nearly three months after sustaining an awful crash at the Vuelta a Castilla y León which caused him a collarbone fracture, Daniele Bennati will be returning to racing in his home country.
The Adriatica Ionica Race, launched in 2018 by former World Champion Moreno Argentin, hopes in the future to go further east and honour its name by entering the Balkans. For the time being, the race is entirely attached to its ‘surname’: Following the Serenissima Routes, in reference to the Republic of Venice.
The whole race is thus held in the Veneto and Fruili regions of Italy. After a non-GC-valid, opening criterium in Mestre (Wednesday 24th), the riders will tackle a spectacular stage one towards Grado (Thursday 25th), with six long ‘sterrato’ sections (23km in total) which will create the first big selection.
The race will be decided on Friday 26th, with two big climbs to Sella Ciampigotto (Cat-1) and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo / Lago di Misurina (Cat-1), and Saturday 27th, over small hills en route to the Monte Quarin (Cat-3), in Cormons. The sprinters will have a final say in Trieste (Sunday 28th).