Preview, favourites, profile, route and predictions Gran Piemonte 2025 - Can Del Toro bring win number 92 for UAE?

On the 9th of September the pro peloton tackles its penultimate Italian autumn classic (out of the main block) and the last before Il Lombardia. It is Gran Piemonte, taking place in the hills of south of Milano. It is set to start at 12:15CET and finish at 16:15CET.

Formerly known as the Giro del Piemonte, its one of Italy’s most historic one-day races. First held in 1906, it has long served as a late-season warm-up for Il Lombardia, offering rolling terrain through the hills of Piedmont that favours punchy climbers and aggressive riders. Over more than a century, the event has seen many great names etched into its history: Giovanni Gerbi won the inaugural edition, while Italian legends such as Gino Bartali and Fiorenzo Magni each took three victories, highlighting its importance in Italian cycling tradition.

The 2024 edition was won by Neilson Powless of EF Education–EasyPost. The American launched a bold solo attack more than 40 kilometres from the finish and held off the chasers to claim a memorable victory—the first by an American in the race’s history. Corbin Strong and Alex Aranburu completed the podium, making it a race suited to the puncheurs and classics specialists, although the courses change often and the list of favourites depends on the edition.

The race is going to be 179 kilometers long this year and feature around 2700 meters of climbing. Not unlike last year, it's a race mostly suited to the classics specialists, but having a strong sprint can be a game changer. The race features plenty small climbs, but unless the race explodes early on, it's likely going to be a big peloton heading towards the final climb.

The ascent to Castelletto d'Erro is 6.1 kilometers long at 5.2%, although it's first kilometers are quite steeper than the average. It's a tough climb where differences can be made, but not one for the pure climbers. However the summit comes with only 14 kilometers to go and after the descent there are only 7 flat kilometers until the finish line in Acqui Terme.

*** Isaac del Toro, Christian Scaroni
** Orluis Aular, Ben O'Connor, Michael Matthews
* Alberto Bettiol, Clément Champoussin, Pavel Sivakov, Neilson Powless, Quinten Hermans, Lenny Martínez, Tobias Johannessen, Egan Bernal, Filippo Ganna, Louis Barré, Fred Wright, Maxim van Gils, Lorenzo Finn

Pick: Christian Scaroni

How: His Europeans race was incredible and I think maybe even with Del Toro attacking, he may be able to respond. The Italian packs strong enough of a sprint to be able to win in such a race.