Astana Pro Team colleagues Diego Rosa and Fabio Aru head the entry list of the oldest classic and are two of the favourites for the final victory on the Superga hill. Other favourites of the Milano-Torino NamedSport include Rodriguez, Landa, Poels, Majka, Atapuma, Ulissi, Bardet, Uran, Visconti, Dani Moreno and Barguil.
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Milan, 21 September 2016 - Diego Rosa and Fabio Aru (first and third last year respectively), two of the main favourites of the Milano-Torino NamedSport, lead the entry list of the RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport classic race. The two Italians will pin race numbers 1 and 2 to their jerseys on Wednesday 28 September.
The list of contenders also features big name riders with Grand Tour stage victories and many prestigious classic races in their palmares, including: Purito Rodriguez, Rafal Majka (second last year), Wout Poels (fifth in 2015), Diego Ulissi (winner in 2013), Mikel Landa, the Colombians Darwin Atapuma and Rigoberto Uran, Dani Moreno, the Frenchmen Romain Bardet and Warren Barguil in addition to the many Italian riders such as Giovanni Visconti, Damiano Cunego, Michele Scarponi, Domenico Pozzovivo, Davide Formolo and Adriano Malori.
THE COURSE
The route starts in Sesto Ulteriano and rolls across the Po Valley along flat roads, all the way through the Vigevano plains and the Lomellina region, up to Casale Monferrato, where the race profile becomes wavier, with gentle climbs and descents that lead to the final circuit.
The route rolls past San Mauro Torinese and all along the Po River in Corso Casale, where it takes in the first climb to the Basilica of Superga. The road then drops down into Rivodora on a technical descent (diverting 600 metres before the finish) that leads back to San Mauro. Here the route goes up again, all the way to the finish, with gradients exceeding 10%. The fixed feed zone is located in Morano sul Po (km 92-95).
Final kilometres
The last 5 km (to be covered twice, with the exception of the final 600 metres) start in Torino, in Corso Casale, at the foot of the climb that leads to the Basilica of Superga. The average rise is 9.1%, with a mid-climb peak of 14% and long stretches with a 10% gradient. There is a left-hand U-turn 600m before the finish that leads to an 8.2% climb, with one last bend 50 metres before the finish, on 7m wide asphalt road.