Giro dell'Appennino

An interesting new feature in the Movistar Team’s calendar -the Blues having never lined up at this event-, due to the adjustments after the pandemic, will be the 81st Giro dell’Appennino, a race which, despite its name, is held between Piedmont and Liguria, over roads more known from Milano-Sanremo than the mountain range that most people outside of Italy associated with the Italian Peninsula’s main axis.

It’s a demanding parcours, for climbers and classics specialists alike, in this 191km event starting in Pasturana and finishing in Genova. Five climbs await the peloton: the Passo della Castagnola (57km) and Crocefieschi (87km), in the first half of the race, and the demanding, chained ascents of the Passo della Bochetta (128km; 10k @ 6.8%), Fraconalto (143km; 5.5k @ 7%) and Passo dei Giovi (155km), to split the race before the finish, which is also uphill (last kilometer at 3%).