The Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi is a one-day professional

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

between the towns of San Vincenzo and Donoratico on the

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

coast in Italy. The 193 kilometre long race takes place at the beginning of February and has now taken over from the Trofeo Laigueglia as the opening event of the Italian professional cycling season. It is ranked 1.1 on the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

. The race has been dominated by Italians since its inception in 1996, with riders from that nation winning on 17 occasions, with an all Italian 1-2-3 happening 14 times out of the 21 editions of the race.

History

The Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi is a relatively new race by European cycling standards, coming into being in 1996. For the first six years of its existence it only carried the grading of a national event and was not included on the UCI calendar nor did it carry any ranking points. It was not until 2002 that it was included on the UCI calendar with a ranking of 1.3. Despite its lack of official status in its early days the race always drew a top class field composed of mostly Italian teams and continues to do so . The race came of age in 1998 when 25,000 people saw Tuscan sprinting ace

Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 pro ...

win the race, the first of his two victories (he won also in 2000). Ukrainian rider Yuriy Metlushenko has also taken two victories in the event (in 2002 and 2004), however the record for the most victories in the race stands with

Alessandro Petacchi Alessandro Petacchi (born 3 January 1974) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2015. A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 48 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the ...

who posted five victories in the six editions of the race between 2005 and 2010. His third victory in 2007 was his first pro victory for nine months after breaking his kneecap in the Giro d’Italia in May 2006. The 2013 edition was originally cancelled due to financial problems; however, on 12 March 2013, during the presentation of the

Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ( en, International Week of Coppi and Bartali), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the Emilia-Romagna region of Ital ...

, the mayor of

Castagneto Carducci Castagneto Carducci () is a (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about southeast of Livorno. It is named after the poet Giosuè Carducci, who spent there some years ...

announced that the Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi would be raced on 21 September, as a preparation race for the

2013 UCI Road World Championships The 2013 UCI Road World Championships took place in Tuscany, Italy, between 22 and 29 September 2013. The Championships consisted of 12 events for elite, under-23 and junior cyclists. It was the 86th Road World Championships, the 13th in Italy a ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

.(Italian
"Presentata la Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali - Trofeo UniCredit"
''Gs Emilia'', 13 March 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013

The course

The race was originally over a distance of 153 kilometres but this has increased over the years to its present length of around 190 km. The course is relatively level and definitely favours the sprinters. The first 30 kilometres are perfectly flat as the race leaves San Vincenzo and goes north along the coast to the town of

Cecina Cecina may refer to: * Cecina (meat), a Spanish and Mexican culinary specialty made of beef * ''Cecina'' (gastropod), a genus of freshwater snails in the family Pomatiopsidae * Cecina, Tuscany, Italy * Caecinia gens, an ancient Roman family * Far ...

. Here it swings inland and takes in two ascents of the modest 275 metre climb of the Guardistallo (the highest point of the course) after 39 and 79 kilometres. The second part of the race consists of two laps of a 24.3 kilometre circuit followed by five laps of a 10.15 circuit. Both these circuits are comparatively flat and are based around the finishing town of Donoratico where the race finishes on the Via Aurelia.

Past results

Winners by Nationality

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gran Premio Della Costa Etruschi Cycle races in Italy UCI Europe Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 1996 1996 establishments in Italy