Cittadella > Bassano del Grappa 157km

I love the Veneto Classic, if anything, it deserves to be earlier in the calendar. You’ve got a brutal cobbled climb, an incredibly steep gravel climb, a crazy gravel descent and plenty in-between. The last two editions have incredibly gone the way of the break, something you don’t often see in a one-day race, hopefully we get a fitting end to the 2026 cycling season.

Weather

Cloudy sun, 21 degrees.

Key Points

The riders do a lap circuit which features La Tisa, the brutal cobbled climb. I’ve shown you the map as there’s a fast descent which leads into it, a good position for the descent is vital. 

The climb is 400m at 12% and is done five times.

Inside 11km to go the riders are faced with a gravel climb (Diesel Farm) and then a gravel descent, where things can go wrong!

The climb is 1.3km at 10.6%.

Finale

The final 5km starts with a short kicker, 400m at 12.1%, and there’s a rise to the line of 250m at 6.3%.

Tactics

Surely not another breakaway win. Uno-X are the masters of this race, Cort won from the early move in 2024 and Løland did the same last year, can they win it for a third consecutive year? UAE are the strongest team in the race, but how will they approach it? Last year, they got Vermeersch in the break, then tried to bridge with Sivakov, but the gap was too big, and he didn’t make it. Vermeersch was unlucky not to win, Løland just had too much for him in the sprint. This year, UAE arrive with McNulty, Cosnefroy, Wellens and Sivakov as potential options for the win, I’m looking forward to seeing what they do.

The break is an option, especially if it’s a big one, I’d look to try and get Wellens or Sivakov in the move. McNulty has looked in great form, but I wouldn’t say this was a perfect race for him. The consistent fighting for a good position on La Tisa isn’t really his thing, if McNulty is going to win this race, he’ll do it on the gravel climb, this is where he can use his seated power to blow the peloton to pieces. The problem is controlling the race until that point, it’s not easy to do. 

Astana are another team with good options, they’ll hope to be one of the dominant teams, as will Uno-X. Both teams cannot allow a situation where UAE get a rider in the break and they don’t, this simply cannot be allowed to happen. After two winning years for the attackers, it’s about time the peloton took the win this year. From a watching point of view, that will give the best race to watch, hopefully the early kilometres are well managed by the big teams, and it all kicks off when the TV cameras start to roll.

Contenders

UAE – McNulty and Cosnefroy were protected riders in Giro del Veneto, everyone else was on worker duties, but I want to see Wellens with freedom in this race. He was 9^th last year, the first home from the peloton, he’s got what it takes to win this race. The constant fight for position when approaching La Tisa won’t be an issue for Tim, I hope UAE try and go with three leaders. McNulty should be the best on the gravel climb and Cosnefroy obviously has a good sprint, but I have my doubts he can survive the gravel climb. 

Uno-X – Løland is the defending champion but Charmig and Abrahamsen are in better form. Charmig is enjoying a great spell of form, he’s been riding well since the start of September. Abrahamsen should like this race, he’ll be one of the best on the cobbled climb, this is where he needs to try and do some damage as the gravel climb is a little steep for him. 

Astana – Ulissi has done this race on four occasions, finishing 6^th, 10^th, 13^th and 3^rd, clearly it suits him well. The team will likely make Scaroni team leader, he’s been incredible consistent over the last 6 weeks and will be determined to finally get his win, but Ulissi will provide a good second option.

Q36.5 – Christen was 4^th in Giro del Veneto despite being on the attack earlier in the race and they also have Quinten Hermans and Aimé De Gendt. Christen seems to be hitting form; he should be their leader.

Clément Berthet – has some mountain bike experience, which is a big plus for this race. He doesn’t have much of a sprint, he’ll need to be solo to take the win.

Roger Adrià – ending the season in good form, he’ll give Movistar a chance of fighting for the podium.

Alessandro Covi – won Giro del Veneto, it was a great sprint finish by the Italian. It was a nice reminder of his talent, Covi has seemed to spend a long time in the wilderness, he’d love to fight for a 2^nd win this week.

Alessandro Fancellu – very consistent Italian, one of the darlings of the cycling fantasy world! I expect another top 10 from him.

Marc Hirschi – good luck trying to work out which Marc Hirschi will turn up for this race.

Prediction Time

UAE to control and set up a win for Brandon McNulty.

Betting Corner

Not normally a race you should bet on, too much can happen, but it is tempting due to it being the end of the season. I’d say resist the urge!

2027 Previews

It’s been one hell of a year! By the time I publish today’s previews, I’ll have written 500 of them in 2026, the most I’ve ever done by a considerable distance. Previews will cost £80 next year, but you can sign up now for £60, the deadline is Sunday night. As always, thank you for all the support.