From Bressanone to Riva del Garda, passing through Austria: 716 kilometers and over 13.000 meters of altitude difference. And the Tour of the Alps, Scheduled for April 19th to 23rd, the race that unites Tyrol and Trentino returns after a year-long hiatus due to Covid, and today the participating teams were presented. In total there will be 22 teams: twelve WorldTour teams, eight professional teams, one continental team and one national team.
Top participation
Il Gs Alto Garda, The organizers of the event couldn't wait to get going again. The anticipation was truly intense, and after announcing this lineup, it's even greater. There have never been so many top-tier teams. It means there's a desire to race, to reach the top. Tour of Italy, But also to add to the list of honors for this race. For many champions, the TOTA isn't "just" a race that leads to the pink jersey, but a true goal.
The WT at the start are led by the defending champions of the Ineos-Grenadiers even if at the time Sivakov (first) and geoghegan hart (second) still wore the colors of Sky (it was the last victory). Sir's battleship brailsford has already announced the presence of Philippo Ganna. There will also be the Trek-Segafredo di Vincenzo NibaliFor the Sicilian, the TOTA is a key step in his preparation, especially since last year he complained about the lack of stage races. And again Groupama-FDJ with Thibaut Pinot, already winner in 2018; Bora Hansgrohe, the Israel Start-Up Nation, la Qhubeka-Assos, la Bahrain-Victorious, theAstana-Premier Tech. While for the remaining three WorldTours, EF Education Nippo, UAE Team Emirates e Bike Exchange, This is the first time the team has participated in the TOTA. Moreover, this last team will field Simon Yachts.
Professional opportunity
But while the WTs have no problem securing global exposure, the same cannot be said for the professional teams. The second-tier teams, thanks in part to such a rich roster, will be able to benefit from significant visibility.
Among the eight professionals involved in the race between Italy and Austria there are all the Italian ones: Androni-Sidermec, Bardiani-CSF-Faizané, Eolo-Kometa e Zabù-Brado-KTM wines, Truly a golden opportunity for Italian cycling. They will certainly be at the top of their game. Completing the professional roster are the Spanish Caja Rural-Seguros, the Russian (but very Italian) Gazprom-Rusvelo, the French Arkéa-Samsic and Norwegian Uno-X Pro Cycling Team.
Finally, the Austrian team will be present Tirol KTM Cycling, and the Italian national team.
Always on the move
But if the next edition has yet to begin, we are already thinking about future ones.
«Many locations are already asking us to host the TOTAs in 2022 and 2023 – he said Maurizio Evangelista, general manager Tour of the Alps – this means that the event left a clear mark with the improvement of the organizational structure and the perception of an ambitious event. Chris Froome himself said a few years ago that an experience like this is the best thing a rider could wish for."
Echoing him is Wolfgang Toechterle. "The Tour of the Alps – says the marketing director of IDM Alto Adige – goes far beyond promoting our scenic beauty to an audience of millions, but it communicates values such as sporting pride and team spirit that represent the foundations of our Euroregion."
