Traditional early spring Italian stage race expands to five stages in four days
The 37th edition of the Giro del Trentino is scheduled to start in Lienz, Austria, and the concise, hilly stage race has expanded from four stages to five, although it will keep its current four-day format.
The traditional Giro d’Italia tune-up will run from April 16-19, in its usual spot sandwiched in the Ardennes Classics week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Next season’s Giro del Trentino will not be the race’s first foray into Austria however, as it last visited in 2009, and before that in 2002, 2000, 1999, 1997, and 1996.
With a population of approximately 12,000 and around 35 kilometres from the Italian border, Lienz won the right to host the 2013 Giro del Trentino departure, with two short stages both raced on April 16. Race organizers were happy to be multi-national again in the typically Italian flavoured race.
“We have a special feeling with Austria, and Lienz especially,” said the Giro’s assistant vice president Lina Ioppi. “We’ve done a great job with [Lienz tourism president] Franz Theurl and his irreplaceable assistant Astrid Trojer-Pirke to make it possible, so we feel very happy to have succeeded.”
Lienz will host a short morning stage on April 16, said to be flat and to feature any attending sprinters. Following the morning stage will be a 15km team time trial in the afternoon. The team time trial will mirror this season’s opening stage, taken out by BMC Racing, and putting Taylor Phinney in the first leader’s jersey.
On the following day, the stage will begin in Lienz and move back into northern Italy.
This season, Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox) used a stage three win on the summit finish of Punta Veleno to seal the overall victory. If Pozzovivo heads to Austria to begin his title defense, he will do it in the colours of AG2R-La Mondiale, to which he transferred for 2013.