PREVIEW | Tre Valli Varesine 2023: The last test for Roglic, Pogacar and company before Il Lombardia

Preview. The Trittico Lombardo will come to an exciting close with the Tre Valli Varesine 2023, a competition that promises top-level cycling action. This event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 3, bringing to an end a series of races that also includes the Coppa Agostoni and the Coppa Bernocchi. These Italian semi-classics are the appetizer of what is to come at Il Lombardia 2023 next Saturday, October 7.

The route of the Tre Valli Varesine 2023 will start from Busto Arsizio and will extend over 195.5 kilometers, with the finish scheduled on the circuit in the Varese area, which the cyclists will ride eight times. The route includes iconic sections such as Via Montello and Via Matteotti, which will undoubtedly play a crucial role in defining the victory.

Thus, the percorso is almost unchanged compared to the 2022 edition. It starts with an in-line section that takes the race from Busto Arsizio to Varese, where it will enter the circuit with 3 very treacherous climbs. Then the riders will have to start the second circuit, longer (2 laps) of 25 km, which concludes with the climb of Via Sacco, whose summit is 2 km from the finish line.

FAVOURITES.

At the Tre Valli Varesine, the Varese area will witness a lineup of big names competing for glory. Among them, the figure of the talented Tadej Pogacar stands out, who will be accompanied by his faithful squires, including promising young riders such as Juan Ayuso, as well as experienced riders like Rafa Majka and Adam Yates.

The Jumbo-Visma team is also expected to be present with a luxury duo of Wout Van Aert and Primoz Roglic, consolidating its presence in the fight for the final victory;

Movistar Team will also bring a great team with the presence of Enric Mas, Alex Aranburu and Carlos Verona. Mas worked hard and well in 2022 for Alejandro Valverde, who finished third. We'll see if he does the same for Aranburu this year or if he becomes the leader of the team himself.

AG2R Citroën also has a good team with very dangerous riders such as Ben O'Connor, Bennoit Cosnefroy or Felix Gall who, however, in the Giro dell'Emilia could not keep up with the best;

As in all these pre-Lombardia Italian classics, the list is impressive with riders like Carlos Rodriguez, Jai Hindley or Aleksandr Vlasov or Simon Yates who we saw very strong in the Giro dell'Emilia. Watch out for climbers like Richard Carapaz or Esteban Chaves for EF Education-EasyPost or Jakob Fuglsang and Domenico Pozzovivo for Israel Premier Tech.

DSM arrives with an interesting team with Romain Bardet as leader and at Groupama-FDJ they expect Thibaut Pinot to be better than in Emilia. Other riders to watch out for could be Julian Alaphilippe or Jesús Herrada.

Prediction Tre Valli Varesine 2023:.

*** Primoz Roglic, Tadej Pogacar
** Wout van Aert, Alex Aranburu, Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, Julian Alaphilippe
* Enric Mas, Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso, Bennoit Cosnefroy, Felix Gall, Domenico Pozzovivo, Esteban Chaves

Pick: Wout van Aert