Preview: Tre Valli Varesine 2023 – Defending Champion Tadej Pogacar Takes on Roglic and Van Aert

Jeen de Jong • Monday October 2, 2023 at 4:30 PM

The 2023 road season is almost over, but for now we can still enjoy the Italian autumn classics. On Tuesday it is the turn of the Tre Valli Varesine (1.Pro). In this tough hill race, Tadej Pogačar defends his title. The main competition comes from Jumbo-Visma, which fields the duo Primož Roglič-Wout van Aert. CyclingFlits looks ahead!

History

Tre Valli Varesine, like other Italian autumn races such as the Giro dell’Emilia, Tour of Lombardy and Gran Piemonte, is very old. The competition has already had a hundred editions. This year we are ready for edition 102. Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Fiorenzo Magni, Gastone Nencini, Gianni Motta, Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni, among others, are on the honors list of the one-day race. Motta and Saronni share the record with four victories each.

Host country Italy has not surprisingly recorded the most victories since the first edition in 1919. A home rider won 87 out of 101 times. Those other fourteen winners? They are Germain Derycke, Willy Vannitsen, Eddy Merckx, Gregor Braun, Pascal Richard, Fabian Wegmann, Daniel Martin, David Veilleux, Kristijan Đurasek, Michael Albasini, Alexandre Geniez, Toms Skujiņš, Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar. So three Belgians on the honors list, and no Dutch (yet).

Tre Valli Varesine took place in 2020 under the name Gran Trittico Lombardo. That race was a combination of the Tre Valli Varesine, Coppa Bernocchi and Coppa Agostoni as a result of the corona crisis. Gorka Izagirre won this one-off edition, which had more or less the same final as the Tre Valli Varesine.

Roglič at the party in 2019 – photo: Cor Vos

Last ten winners Tre Valli Varesine
2022: Tadej Pogačar
2021: Alessandro De Marchi
2020: Tre Valli Varesine ging op in Gran Trittico Lombardo
2019: Primož Roglič
2018: Tom Skujin
2017: Alexandre Geniez
2016: Sonny Colbrelli
2015: Vincenzo Nibali
2014: Michael Albasini
2013: Kristijan Durasek
2012: David Veilleux

Latest edition

In the last edition of Tre Valli Varesine we saw a leading group of ten in the opening hours. This includes Daryl Impey and Quinten Hermans. In the peloton, AG2R Citroën and Movistar led the chase ahead of Benoît Cosnefroy and Enric Mas respectively. The latter had recently won the Giro dell’Emilia.

Forty kilometers from the finish, the last four escapees, including Hermans, were caught again. Alessandro De Marchi, last year’s winner, then opened the debates, but did not get away. Then two other loners also made an attempt: first Jay Vine, then Tim Wellens. However, UAE Emirates, the future team of both Vine and Wellens, closed the gap both times. The team from the Middle East obviously did nothing when their rider Davide Formolo rode away in the final lap with Daniel Felipe Martínez in Jesus Herradabut this trio didn’t make it either.

Later in the final lap we saw an acceleration from the then 21-year-old Tom Gloag, who was accompanied by Mas, but the peloton also called this duo to order again. The last to try to avoid a sprint with a thinned peloton was Vincenzo Nibali. Now it was Movistar that led the chase and defused the attack. Alejandro Valverde then had to finish, but the Spaniard fell short in the sprint against Tadej Pogačar. Sergio Higuita nestled between the Spaniard and Slovenian and was able to take the podium as number two.

photo: Cor Vos

Uitslag Tre Valli Varesine 2022
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) and 4h36m59s
2. Sergio Higuita (BORA-hansgrohe) zt
3. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) zt
4. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) z.t.
5. Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) currently
Match report

Course

The Tre Valli Varesine course is a total of 196.7 kilometers long and has 24 climbs with an elevation gain of almost 3,500 meters. The one-day race traditionally starts on Tuesday in Busto Arsizio, a town in the far south of the province of Varese. From there the peloton drives in a straight line to the north, where the provincial capital Varese is located. After about forty kilometers the riders reach the finish line for the first time. What follows is a local circuit of 12.9 kilometers that must be completed eight times.

This round starts with an ascent of the Montello (2 km at 5.2%, with peaks of up to 10%) which is followed by a descent in two parts. After that descent the riders start the Casbeno-climate (2.5 km or 4.9%). This takes the riders back to the finish line near Piazza Monte Grappa. Once this circuit has been completed eight times, it is still more than fifty kilometers to the finish line.

The final circuit of 25 kilometers does not differ much from the previous round. The Montello has been included again, but this time the Morosolo (1.6 km and 7.8%) climbed. This immediately changes into the Casciago (1.8 km at 5%). The descent from this Casciago then leads back to the Casbeno and the finish. This circuit will be visited twice in the final.

Dinsdag 3 October, Tre Valli Varesine: Busto Arsizio – Varese (196.5 km)
Start: 12.00
Finish: between 4:30 PM and 5:10 PM

Favorites

It is often difficult to predict how the final of the Tre Valli Varesine will go. A lone individual can triumph, but a sprint by a relatively large group is also not impossible. Take last year, when no fewer than twenty people came to the meet together. Tadej Pogačar then proved to be the fastest. The Slovenian is now one of the favorites again, but the top favorite? Not that. After the Giro dell’Emilia has Primoz Roglic an advantage for us.

Pogacar was not in the photo at the San Luca – photo: Cor Vos

In that Giro dell’Emila, Roglič defeated his compatriot Pogačar in a direct duel. The Jumbo-Visma leader placed a blistering acceleration in the last hundreds of meters that his opponent from UAE Emirates had no answer to. Roglič 1, Pogačar 0. When it comes to victories in the Tre Valli Varesine, the two are on equal terms. While Pogačar sprinted to victory last year, Roglič was the best in 2019 after a late exit.

For Roglič, who confirmed on Saturday that he will leave Jumbo-Visma this winter, the Giro dell’Emilia was his first race since the Vuelta a España. The 33-year-old Slovenian has clearly managed to carry over his form from the last big tour of the year. Pogačar is now under construction again, which is also directly reflected in his results. Fourth in the Giro della Toscana, third in the Coppa Sabatini, second in the Giro dell Emilia, first in… the Tre Valli Varesine?

Pogacar had to settle for second place (again) in the Giro dell’Emilia – photo: Cor Vos

The two-time Tour winner will have to deal with a Jumbo-Visma tandem. Because yes, there is also Roglič next to Primož Wout van Aert at the start for the Dutch formation. The Belgian is preparing for the Clay World Championships in Veneto in the Coppa Bernocchi and the Tre Valli Varesine. In that first race he immediately came out on top, after a dominant performance by his team. Will Van Aert record his second victory in three days in Tre Valli Varesine? He must be able to get far here too. Especially if we get another sprint from a small peloton.

Tiesj Benoot and Attila Valter are also on the provisional start list for Jumbo-Visma. By far the best team at the start, you would normally say. But in this case we are not entirely sure. In addition to Pogačar, UAE Emirates also fields Davide Formolo, Rafal Majka, Jay Vine, Juan Ayuso, Diego Ulissi and Adam Yates op.

Can Adam Yates now go for his own chance? – photo: Cor Vos

Judging from his performance in the Giro dell’Emilia, Ayuso seems a bit burned out after his fourth place in the Vuelta a España. This does not apply to Ulissi (sixth in the Coppa Agostoni), but he will probably be at the service of Pogačar again, despite the fact that he often performs well in the Tre Valli Varesine. Yates also sacrificed himself in the Giro dell’Emilia Handsome, who, however, was unable to complete that work. Perhaps UAE Emirates will take a different tack on Tuesday and Yates, recently winner of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, will get the chance to compete.

Twin brother Simon Yates will undoubtedly compete for prizes again, just like in the Giro dell’Emilia. In that match, Jayco AlUla’s spearhead came third. He finished four places ahead Richard Carapaz, who will be happy to end a difficult year with a victory. He is already in good shape again after his heavy fall in the opening stage of the Tour de France. The Ecuadorian was also at the meeting in the Giro della Toscana (second) and Coppa Sabatini (seventh).

Can Carapaz brighten up his season? – photo: Cor Vos

We also saw in the Giro dell’Emilia Aleksandr Vlasov in Enrique Mas storm San Luca in an elite group. Both have the Vuelta in their legs, and clearly still have some left in the tank after that round. Vlasov also has a good sprint, which he can only achieve in Varese.

To that city will Tom Skujins by the way, cherish good memories. The Latvian has already stood on the podium of the Tre Valli Varesine twice. In 2019 he finished third, having even taken victory a year earlier. Now Skujiņš is ready for another stunt. The now 32-year-old rider is doing well this autumn, including an eighth place at the World Championships in Glasgow and a thirteenth place at the European Championships in Drenthe.

Toms Skujiņš finished ninth last Thursday in the Circuit Franco-Belge – photo: Cor Vos

We also saw a strong performance at that European Championship Andreas Kron. The Dane rode an attacking finale and put himself at the service of Mads Pedersen in the final lap, but he was unable to finish. Kron himself crossed the line in ninth place. Just under a month earlier, he also won the first stage in the Vuelta. Two years ago the puncheur finished fifth in the Tre Valli Varesine.

Finally, we also mention the names of Pavel Sivakov (INEOS Grenadiers), Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Jai Hindley, Lennard Kämna (BORA-hansgrohe), Benoît Cosnefroy, Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Clément Champoussin, Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) .

Kron dedicated his stage victory in the Vuelta to the deceased Tijl De Decker – photo: Cor Vos

Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Primož Roglič
*** Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert
** Adam Yates, Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz
* Toms Skujins, Enric Mas, Andreas Kron, Aleksandr Vlasov

Website organization
Participant list (ProCyclingStats)

Weather and TV

It will be nice racing weather in the province of Varese on Tuesday. There is plenty of room for the sun, the mercury will rise to 25 degrees Celsius and there will be almost no wind (1 Beaufort from the southeast). The chance of precipitation is nil.

The Tre Valli Varesine cannot be seen on television in the Netherlands and Belgium, but can be followed via online channels Eurosport.nl/Discovery+/GCN+. The broadcast starts there at 3 p.m. You can always contact us for more information our TV guide Cycling on TV.