In the last straight line towards the fifth and last Monument of the season, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert will be at the start of three Italian semi classics in the neighboring regions Lombardia and Piemonte. For the second time in its history, the team will participate to Tre Valli Varesine (1.Pro, 5/10) on Tuesday, à Milano-Torino (1.Pro, 6/10) the next day and Gran Piemonte (1.Pro, 7/10) on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the finish of Milano-Torino is situated on top of the Superga (4.9km at 9%). The climb with foot in Pô returns to the race after a previous edition for sprinters. The riders have the opportunity to climb it a first time 25 kilometer before. This double ascension of the Superga is preceded by a section of 160 kilometer with the Zimone (4km at 4.8km) as the only difficulty from Magenta, part of the metropole Milan. In total, the riders have to accomplish 190 kilometer. South-African climber Louis Meintjes will come back in competition for the first time since his crash in the Tour of Spain and he will be accompanied by French neopro Jérémy Bellicaud, Czech climber Jan Hirt, Italian riders Riccardo Minali and Simone Petilli and also Estonian rider Rein Taaramäe.
"The team is running at full speed and it's great to see how motivated all riders all to give their best until the final race day of the season. Our excellent performances these past months are the subject of compliments in the peloton, our competitors admire our cohesion. Talking about myself, I enjoyed to be back with the team on the French soil after one month and a half without competition. I worked hard to rise to the level of my teammates and I felt good at the Route Adélie de Vitré and the Classique Loire-Atlantique, where I unfortunately was a victim of the slippery asphalt. These crashes luckily didn't have consequences, so I can look forward to the Italian races with confidence. Just like in France, the Tre Valli Varesine are ridden on a local lap and probably also in bad weather. It's getting more and more difficult to predict a race scenario, because its seems like the young talents are rewriting all cycling laws this season. But what is certain, with bad weather, we should be vigilant from the start. I remember the Gran Piemonte in 2015 which I won, the weather was also very bad..."
