Tinkoff-Saxo is set for Gran Premio di Lugano with a versatile team led by former race winner Ivan Basso. The Swiss one-day race takes place on March 1st in the hilly terrain in and around Lugano, where Tinkoff-Saxo is looking to play the part as main protagonist in a race with an excitingly unpredictable finale.
Eight riders will kit up in the distinctive yellow Tinkoff-Saxo colors. Team leader Ivan Basso, who won the race in 2011, will be accompanied by Manuele Boaro, Jesús Hernandez, Sergio Paulinho, Evgeny Petrov, Oliver Zaugg and season debutants Jay McCarthy and Chris Anker Sørensen.
“We look forward to GP Lugano with expectations, as we want to play a dominant role in this race. Ivan Basso is in good form and will be our team captain. However, it’s a race with different plausible outcomes for the finale, so we we’re fielding a versatile team in order to take into account that the race can be decided in a number of ways”, says Tinkoff-Saxo’s sports director at the race Bruno Cenghialta, whose level of ambition is backed by the team race captain.
“My own philosophy, as well as that of the team’s, is that when we go to a race, our goal is to win. We will go to Lugano with the explicit aim of, firstly, being the main protagonist, and secondly to win the race”, comments Ivan Basso, who’s racing in Lugano off the back of six hard stages in southern Spain.
Gran Premio di Lugano features an undulating 185km route, which has historically favored versatile riders with an ability to sustain efforts in hilly terrain. GP Lugano has on multiple occasions been decided in a decimated group at the finishing straight into Lugano. However, the route offers plenty of uphill sections that can be utilized to unleash deciding attacks.
“It’s a one-day race, so it’s similar to a classic and being a circuit it is similar to a world championship. It’s a demanding race that has two climbs that you repeat in each loop and as a result, we expect a tough day”, says Ivan Basso about the race.
Sports director Bruno Cenghialta underlines that GP Lugano is a race, where the team must field different strategies in order to adapt to the race.
“Basso, Paulinho and Hernandez are in good form and should perform well on the climbs. They also come after having ridden a lot in the mountains. However, the race is often decided among 15-20 riders in a select group of tough riders, where Boaro has shown to have good speed in the legs after a strong early-season performance”, says Cenghialta before adding that “the team will pay attention to the early breakaway. On a hilly parcours like this, the breakaway stands a better chance. Guys like Sørensen, Petrov and Zaugg have proven to be durable in these situations participating in long breakaways”.
Race Preview
Number of stages: 1
Total length: 185km
Kind: one-day race on undulating circuit
First edition: 1981
Last year’s winner: Mauro Finetto
Race Route
GP Lugano features an undulating 185km route, where a 34km circuit has to be tackled five times after an initial ride of 15km. The race revolves around the city of Lugano in the southern part of Switzerland, where the riders will have to tackle several shorter climbs on each lap. The race is often decided in a sprint amongst a select group of riders, but a lone rider breaking free on one of the final climbs also stands a chance as the terrain makes it difficult to catch a rider with punch left in the legs.
