From Wednesday 14 to Sunday 18 October 2026, Veneto closes the Italian professional calendar with three road races: the Veneto Women and the Giro del Veneto on the 14th, the Veneto Classic on the 18th. In between, on Friday 16th, comes the Serenissima Gravel. The longest and hardest is the last: 158 km from Cittadella to Bassano del Grappa, with 2,200 m of climbing and a finish expected at around 17:10.
The week that closes the Italian season
After Sunday 18 October there is nothing left for the professionals to race in Italy. Those arriving in Veneto know it: these are the last chances of the year to win at home, in front of their own fans, or to say goodbye to the season with a result that will be remembered through the winter.
The three races share the same organiser, PP Sport Events, the company of Filippo Pozzato. The Giro del Veneto is a classic born in 1909 and this year reaches its 89th edition. It had stopped for eight years. In 2021 Pozzato relaunched it, and since then the week has grown: it now includes the women’s race, the Veneto Classic and a gravel event.
The result is a small triptych, and the teams treat it as one. General Store-Essegibi-F.lli Curia, an Italian continental team, presents its end of season under exactly that name: Ride the Dreamland. The Giro del Veneto is a 1.Pro race, like the Veneto Classic. For a rider or a team that has not yet won in 2026, these are two open doors four days apart.
The quality of the start lists confirms it. The Giro del Veneto has 144 men from 21 teams entered. Among the names are Brandon McNulty, Benoît Cosnefroy and Tim Wellens of UAE Team Emirates XRG, Christian Scaroni and Diego Ulissi of XDS Astana, Marc Hirschi and Matteo Trentin of Tudor, Valentin Madouas of Groupama-FDJ. At the Veneto Women the names are Silvia Persico, Elisa Longo Borghini, Marlen Reusser, Gaia Realini: 105 starters, 18 teams.
14 and 16 October
We have already covered 14 October, the day of the Veneto Women and the Giro del Veneto, in the preview piece. Here it is enough to recall the layout: both races start from Verona, piazza Bra, and finish in Vicenza, on Monte Berico, in viale X Giugno. The men’s race has 1,550 m of climbing and ends with five passes on the 15 km Vicenza circuit, which takes in Sant’Agostino, Monte Berico, Santa Margherita and via Pila. The women ride the same circuit just once.
The Monte Berico ramp is where the peloton is whittled down, and each lap it leaves someone behind. Then comes the straight of viale X Giugno, which gives hope to those who are faster than the rest. That is why the race is never written in advance.
Dorian Godon won on this finish in 2023 and Corbin Strong in 2024. Isaac Del Toro won the following edition, which was instead run in Verona. The Veneto Women was born last year, from Vicenza to Verona, and Persico won it.
On 16 October it is the turn of the Serenissima Gravel, in Tezze sul Brenta: a 13.9 km circuit to be ridden eight times, 111.2 km in total. It is another face of the week, one that speaks to those who ride for pleasure. Among the professionals of Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber there is only Andrea Montagner.
The Tisa and the Diesel Farm in numbers
The Veneto Classic is a race of short, nasty hills, climbed repeatedly. After Sandrigo, Breganze and Fara, the route climbs the Tisa at Colceresa for the first time. Then there are two laps of the Rosina circuit between Marostica and Bassano and five passes on the Tisa circuit, with the Diesel Farm. Contrà Soarda, the last climb before Bassano, closes the race, and the finish is in piazza della Libertà.
In the 2025 edition the Tisa was a 330 m cobbled section at 15.2%. The Rosina measured 2.1 km with an average gradient of 6.5%. The Diesel Farm was on gravel, 1,300 m long, with an average gradient of 10.9%, 10 km from the finish.
For 2026 two figures are confirmed. The Rosina is part of a 12.6 km circuit to be ridden twice; the Tisa one measures 12.4 km and is ridden five times. Contrà Soarda is 400 m long at 13%.
That climb has already decided a race. In 2023 Davide Formolo went clear alone right there, and won. After leaving the circuit 16 km remain to the finish: enough to hold an advantage, too many to hope to come back with bare hands. Anyone who wants to win must get there with fresh legs, after five passes over cobbles and gravel.
The Veneto Classic roll of honour
The Veneto Classic roll of honour is short and tells the story of the race well. In 2021 Samuele Battistella won, ahead of Marc Hirschi and Jhonatan Restrepo. In 2022 Hirschi won, with Davide Formolo second and Nicola Conci third. In 2023 Formolo beat Hirschi and Filippo Zana. In 2024 Magnus Cort Nielsen won, ahead of Romain Grégoire and Xandro Meurisse.
In 2025 Sakarias Koller Løland beat Florian Vermeersch and Diego Ulissi in a sprint. That sprint shows that even a race full of steep ramps can end with a small group, and that the last attack does not always decide it.
Three of these names are on the Giro del Veneto start list: Hirschi with Tudor, Ulissi and Conci with XDS Astana. We do not know whether they will also race on Sunday, because the Veneto Classic list is not out yet. They are, in any case, the men who know this course best.
Pozzato hopes to see Isaac Del Toro, who has already won the Giro del Veneto, on the hills of Bassano. For now it is a hope and not an announcement. The sixth year of a race created to showcase these hills would thus have a winner with real pulling power.
The organisers’ aim is to exceed 15 thousand spectators along the course. On 17 October there is the “VENEtoGo Social Ride”. On the Tisa the Tisa Party returns, with music, food and big screens, and in the morning amateur riders take on a hill climb time trial on the Colceresa wall, new for 2026.
On television and the start list
On Sunday 18 October the start village opens at 10:00 in Cittadella, piazza Pierobon. Between 12:00 and 12:45 come the team presentation and the sign-on. The start is at 13:00. The finish village opens at 14:00 and the first rider should cross the line at around 17:10. The podium ceremony is scheduled for around 17:25. The start is in Cittadella, whereas until last year it was in Soave.
On television, the Veneto Classic and the Giro del Veneto are on Eurosport 1 and Discovery+.
There will be plenty of Italians. Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber has named Luca Covili, Edward Cruz, Martin Herreño, Martin Marcellusi, Vicente Rojas, Alex Tolio and Filippo Turconi for the Veneto Classic. The directeurs sportifs are Roberto Reverberi and Alessandro Donati. Among the continental teams, General Store-Essegibi-F.lli Curia has chosen this week to close 2026.
The Veneto Classic start list is not out yet: that is why there are no favourites here.
Sources
- Giro del Veneto, “Route”.
- Veneto Women, “Route”.
- Veneto Classic, “Route”.
- Serenissima Gravel, “Serenissima Gravel”.
- Photo: René Hourdry, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; processing: la fagIAnata.
Written with the help of Mnemosyne.