Weekend Preview: Giro dell'Emilia, Gravel World Championships & More

Looking ahead to the weekend, which serves up a Pogačar/Evenepoel/Roglič showdown, a battle on the gravel in Belgium & much, much more

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After the season wraps up following next weekend’s Il Lombardia, I will begin publishing a mailbag edition of the newsletter every Friday, answering reader questions on, including, but not limited to, race strategy and behind-the-scenes machinations.

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Weekend Races: Listed in order of BTP’s Highly-Scientific Race Excitement Rating™:

1) Giro dell'Emilia: Saturday, October 5th

Startlist Highlights: Tadej Pogačar will debut his new World Championships jersey as he battles Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič on five passes of the brutal San Luca climb (which featured prominently at the end of Stage 2 of the 2024 TdF) as he ramps up to defend his title at the season-ending Il Lombardia next weekend.

Where/When to Watch:

• Where: USA (Not Televised), Canada (FloBikes), Europe (Discovery+/Eurosport/Max)

• When: Saturday, October 5th

  • Women’s: 6:45 am – 8:00 am ET

  • Men’s: 8:40am - 11:30am ET

2) UCI Gravel World Championships: (Women’s) Saturday, October 5th & (Men’s) Sunday, October 6th

Startlist Highlights: On the Men’s side, Superstar Mathieu van der Poel and defending World Gravel Champion Matej Mohoric take on a deep field of talented road, gravel, and cyclocross professionals on a tough, technical course in the countryside around Leuven, Belgium. In the Women’s, freshly crowned World Road Race Champion Lotte Kopecky once again battles the formidable Dutch squad, led by crossover stars Marianne Vos and Puck Pieterse.

Where/When to Watch:

• Where: USA (FloBikes), Canada (FloBikes), Europe (Discovery+/Eurosport/Max)

• When: Saturday, October 5th (Women’s) & Sunday, October 6th (Men’s), 8:00 am – 10:10 am ET (estimate)

3) Coppa Agostoni, Sunday, October 6th

Startlist Highlights: The near-daily run of fall Italian Classics continues on Sunday when Marc Hirschi faces off against a strong field of Lombardia hopefuls on a hilly course north of Milan.

Where/When to Watch:

• Where: USA (Not Televised), Canada (FloBikes), Europe (Discovery+/Eurosport/Max)

• When: Sunday, October 6th, 9:00 am – 11:00 am ET (estimate)

4) Paris-Tour, Sunday, October 6th

Startlist Highlights: Defending champion Riley Sheehan faces off against Classics stars like Jasper Philipsen, Arnaud de Lie, and Mads Pedersen on the gravel Plugstreets around Tours, France, which will be sure to split the bunch and create an intriguing finale.

Where/When to Watch:

• Where: USA (Peacock), Canada (FloBikes), Europe (Discovery+/Eurosport/Max)

• When: Sunday, October 6th, 9:10 am – 11:30 am ET (estimate)

5) Cro Race

• Stage 5: Saturday, October 5th

• Stage 6: Sunday, October 6th

Startlist Highlights: Race leader Brandon McNulty will attempt to hold onto his thin race lead as riders like Tobias Lund Andresen, Edoardo Zambanini, and Fred Wright attempt to press him on the fairly flat parcours over the final two stages.

Where/When to Watch:

• Where: USA (FloBikes), Canada (FloBikes), Europe (Discovery+/Eurosport/Max)

• When: Saturday, October 5th/Sunday, October 6th, 7:00 am – 9:00 am ET (estimate)