Preview. In late March the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali takes place, providing puncheurs, climbers and classics riders with five days of explosive racing in Italy. The race takes place from the 21st to the 25th of March and comes right before the main cobbled classics of the year.
2800 meters of climbing on the opening day of the race. It's a day that consists on two circuits essentially, the first featuring a 3.4-kilometer climb at 7.5% that will be ridden twice, and then another circuit with a 6.6-kilometer climb at 3.7%. It's the easiest of days in the race, however it features a 1-kilometer long climb at over 10% with 18 kilometers to go which will open things up before returning to Riccione.
Stage 2 has a flat start and then sees a five-lap circuit around Longiano to decide the stage. It's a tough circuit with no flat roads, featuring two completely different ascents (one is 5.3Km at 4.3%, the other 1.8 at 7.8%) before a descent to the finale which takes place in a hilltop. The only uphill finish of the race, it features gradients of 10.5% for 900 meters.
Stage 1: Riccione - Riccione, 161.8 kilometers
Stage 2: Riccione - Longiano, 172.5 kilometers
Stage 3 to Forli sees another circuit. This will have an ascent that will be raced three times which is 4.7 kilometers long at 7.1%. Then, before the finale in Forli, the riders will take on another off-road climb which will be brutal and create differences as it averages 10.8% for 1.8 kilometers.
Stage 4 is perhaps the toughest of the race with over 3200 meters of climbing. Earlier in the day the peloton will race through a 3.5-kilometer ascent at 10%, however the differences and attacks will most likely only happen later in the day in the final explosive loop. The riders have a 2.3km climb at 6.5%, then a 2Km at 9.2% before a short final loop which has the riders climb twice a 1.8Km climb at 8.3%, very shortly before the finish in Fiorano Modenese.
The final day of racing at long last, the complete opposite of the previous days. The 18-kilometer long time-trial in Carpi is pan-flat but is enough to create meaningful differences which will help define the overall classification.
Stage 3: Forli - Forli, 139.7 kilometers
Stage 4: Fiorano Modenese - Fiorano Modenese, 168.5 kilometers
Stage 5 (ITT): Carpi - Carpi, 18.6 kilometers
Prediction Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali 2023 overall classification:
*** Mauro Schmid, Thomas Gloag
** Gijs Leemreize, Leo Hayter, Sean Quinn
* Leo Hayter, Brandon Rivera, Mark Padun, Ben Healy, William Lecerf Junior, Domenico Pozzovivo
** Gijs Leemreize, Leo Hayter, Sean Quinn
* Leo Hayter, Brandon Rivera, Mark Padun, Ben Healy, William Lecerf Junior, Domenico Pozzovivo
Pick: Thomas Gloag
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
Finals podiums of this edition of #CoppieBartali !
Write a comment