Sometimes a little tossed around in the calendar, the three events of the Lombard Trophy are found this year grouped into four days, like in the good old days. It is sometimes a little difficult to remember the particularities of each of the three races: let’s say that the Coppa Agostoni which inaugurates the series is theoretically the least prestigious of the three, being the only one which is not classified in the Pro Series, and that it is essentially characterized by its Lissolo circuit traced in the hills of Brianza, north-east of Milan.
For this year, the Coppa Agostoni innovates significantly since on the one hand it takes place on a Sunday, and on the other hand it has very significantly modified its route: by eliminating the long return to Lissone at the start of the race, the Coppa will concentrate more on the legendary Lissolo circuit which was even – ultimate sacrilege! – lengthened, going from 24.2 km to 28 km, while maintaining the same number of laps, just under four. The algebraic sum of all these operations results in a route 30 kilometers shorter than the usual rate; the aim of the organizers was not to be too demanding of the runners given the large concentration of races throughout this week, a perfectly acceptable objective moreover.
All cyclists currently present in Italy were not sensitive to the argument since it is quite logically a much less striking peloton which will line up at the start on Sunday morning, the day after an infernal Tour d’Emilie. In fact, few riders will overtake Emilie and Agostoni and it is rather new men who will be at the start on Sunday morning in Lissone. At the head of the gondola, we will obviously find Marc Hirschi who intends to resume his series of victories in Italian races thanks to an event which suits him perfectly. Among the other contenders who avoided the Emilian pensum, Tim Wellens, Alex Aranburu, Romain Grégoire, Alberto Bettiol, would make very presentable winners; Arkéa and TotalEnergies have also come to join the party without going to Bologna and as a result we will be happy to find Clément Champoussin who also knows how to win Italian semi-classics. Finally, a little word of encouragement for Brieuc Rolland lined up the day after his victory in the Lombardia U23.
The last three podiums:
2021 : 1. Alexey Lutsenko – 2. Matteo Trentin – 3. Alessandro Covi
2022 : 1. Sjoerd Bax – 2. Alejandro Valverde – 3. Andrea Piccolo
2023 : 1. Davide Formolo – 2. Marc Hisrchi – 3. Victor Lafay
THE RACE
The route is built according to the traditional Lissolo circuit which will be covered almost four times; it was lengthened this year, going from the traditional 24.2 kilometers to 28 kilometers. To get there and return, the routes will be almost identical to last year except that we will only do the route once.
The 2024 route will therefore look like this:
– the race (in red) will leave Lissone for a first passage at km 24.4 in Barzolo, entry point into the Lissolo loop.
– this 28 kilometer long loop (in orange on the map and profile) will have to be covered almost four times and includes three difficulties: Sirtori / Ceregallo (1.5 km at 4.9%) from the entrance, Colle Brianza (3.8 km at 6%, max 11%) and especially Lissolo, whose last two kilometers at 7% (with passages at 15%) will be the same as previously despite the lengthening of the circuit; Sirtori / Ceregallo will not be climbed on the fourth lap since we will have left the circuit before.
– and the return to Lissone (in red) 35 km long, rather descending even if there will be a few small climbs and in particular the strain from Albiate (700 m in bends), 8 km from the finish.
The finish will also be different from last year: instead of a beautiful, almost straight line of 1.6 km, the last straight section will only be 700 meters long.
Distance (excluding neutralized 0.7 km): 166.7 km; elevation gain + estimated at 2,700 m – RidewithGPS: 227370180
Actual departure at 12:30 p.m.; arrival expected around 4:28 p.m. / 4:40 p.m.
THE CARD
THE GENERAL PROFILE
THE ASCENSIONS OF THE DAY
THE LAST 5 KILOMETERS
WEATHER REPORT
A few clouds – Teméoarture 18° – light south-southwest breeze (6 / 11 km/h); evolution of the forecast to follow on meteo.it
THE 21 TEAMS AND THEIR MAIN ENGAGERS
(provisional list as of 5/10)
WorldTour
– Movistar Team (Aranburu, Rubio, Formolo)
– Alpecin – Deceuninck (Groves, Laurance, Vergallito)
– Arkéa – B&B Hotels (Albanese, Vauquelin, Champoussin)
– Astana Qazaqstan Team (Bettiol, Lutsenko, Fortunato)
– Cofidis (Guillaume Martin, Oldani, Rubén Fernández)
– Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team (Lapeira, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Vendrame)
– Groupama – FDJ (Grégoire, Rochas, Brieuc Rolland)
– Team Jayco AlUla (Simon Yates, Dunbar, De Pretto)
– UAE Team Emirates (Hirschi, Wellens, Jan Christen, Fisher-Black)
Pro Teams
– Bingoal WB (Knee, Persico, Knee)
– Team Corratec – Vini Fantini (Sbaragli, Tsarenko, Baldaccini)
– Euskaltel – Euskadi (Berasategi, Juaristi, Gotzon Martín)
– Team Polti Kometa (Fabbro, De Cassan, Garosio)
– TotalEnergies (Burgaudeau, Dujardin, Latour)
– VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè (Magli, Tonelli, Covili)
Continental Teams
– Biesse – Carrera (Donati, Dati)
– Mg.K Vis – Colors for Peace
– Petrolike (Caicedo, Camargo, Cadena)
– Q 36.5 Continental Team (Zerai, Oioli, Stedman)
– Team MBH Bank Colpack Ballan (Meris)
– Team Technipes #inEmiliaRomagna (Crescioli, Garibbo, Cavallo)
FOLLOW THE RACE
USEFUL LINKS
Event website: www.coppaagostoni.it (no frills, but there’s everything!)
Facebook : Coppaagostoni
Twitter: hashtag #Agostoni Cup
Live written: Tuttobiciweb
LOOK
Live TV: Italy: Rai Sport at 3:15 p.m.
France: Eurosport Max, eurosport 360#7 at 3:00 p.m.
Presentation by Zach
