Italy unveil stacked World Championships squad as Giulio Ciccone and Giulio Pellizzari lead with U23 world champion Lorenzo Finn teenage wildcard on senior stage
CyclingWednesday, 16 September 2026 at 20:00
Italy will take one of the deepest squads in the elite men's World Championships road race to Montreal, combining two riders in obvious late-season form with proven championship performers and one of the most decorated teenagers in cycling.
Giulio Ciccone and Giulio Pellizzari headline the eight-man selection, with Alberto Bettiol, Christian Scaroni, Davide Piganzoli, Mattia Cattaneo, Matteo Trentin and 19-year-old Lorenzo Finn completing Marco Villa's team for September 27.
| Italy - Elite men's road race |
| Giulio Ciccone |
| Giulio Pellizzari |
| Alberto Bettiol |
| Christian Scaroni |
| Davide Piganzoli |
| Mattia Cattaneo |
| Matteo Trentin |
| Lorenzo Finn |
The strength of the team is already being backed up by results. Ciccone has tested himself against several of the main World Championships contenders in Canada, Pellizzari has been collecting results across Italy, Scaroni has produced one of his strongest one-day seasons and Piganzoli has taken a major step forward with Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2026.
Finn adds another layer entirely. After winning the junior road world title in 2024 and the U23 rainbow jersey in 2025, he will skip another age-group campaign and move directly onto the elite stage.
Finn claimed a second U23 world title in Kigali
Ciccone and Pellizzari arrive by different routes
Ciccone came within one sprint of winning the GP Quebec, finishing second to Remco Evenepoel after the pair escaped together late in the race. Two days later he backed that up with seventh at the GP Montreal, gaining useful race-speed experience on the same circuit that will host the World Championships.
His championship record also gives Italy something to build on. Ciccone finished sixth in Kigali last year, his best result so far in an elite Worlds road race.
Pellizzari, meanwhile, stayed in Europe and has barely stopped collecting results. The 22-year-old won the Giro della Toscana, finished sixth at the Coppa Sabatini and then took second at the Memorial Marco Pantani in his final run before travelling to Canada.
That late-season form follows an already impressive 2026 campaign in which he won the Tour of the Alps overall, finished third at Tirreno-Adriatico and second at the Tour of Slovenia.
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Finn makes early jump after back-to-back rainbow jerseys
Lorenzo Finn's selection is the boldest call in Villa's eight. The 19-year-old could have returned to the U23 race as defending world champion, having already won the junior title in 2024, but instead moves straight into the elite field after another strong season that included overall victory and two stage wins at the Sibiu Cycling Tour.
Finn has already said he feels he has learned what he can from racing at U23 level, and Montreal will offer a much sharper test of how quickly he can carry that success into the senior ranks.
There is no expectation that he shoulders the same responsibility as Ciccone or Pellizzari. His inclusion is interesting precisely because Italy do not need that from him yet: a teenager with consecutive rainbow jerseys can step into the race without having to define it.
Scaroni and Bettiol add further firepower
Christian Scaroni arrives off one of the best seasons of his career, with victory at the Tour of Oman, eighth at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and fourth at the Clasica San Sebastian among his standout results.
Alberto Bettiol brings a different kind of pedigree, having twice finished inside the top 10 of the elite Worlds road race and repeatedly shown himself capable of surviving deep into long, tactical one-day races.
Davide Piganzoli has also taken a significant step forward with Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2026, finishing eighth overall at the Giro d'Italia before later winning La Route d'Occitanie.
Matteo Trentin, silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships in Yorkshire, brings the deepest championship experience in the squad, while Mattia Cattaneo completes an eight-man group with very few obvious weak links.
Italy therefore arrive in Montreal with far more than two obvious cards. Ciccone and Pellizzari bring the strongest immediate form, Scaroni and Bettiol offer proven one-day quality, Piganzoli arrives from a breakout season and Finn adds one of the most intriguing young riders in the field.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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