Italy has produced many cycling legends. Almost all of them have their own race today. Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, for example, share the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali (2.1), while the Memorial Marco Pantani (1.1) commemorates cycling's most famous pirate. And there is the Trofeo Alfredo Binda for Alfredo Binda, one of the most successful cyclists of the 1920s and 30s, the first (1927) and three-time road world champion, five-time winner of the Giro d'Italia and record holder with 41 one-day victories before Mario Cippolini surpassed him by one in 2003.
In contrast to the races of his compatriots, his is the only one at the very highest level of cycling and the only one in the women's field.
Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2024: the most important facts in brief
- Date: 17 March 2024
- Distance140.5 kilometres
- Start: Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca, GoalCittiglio
- Profilehilly, finish slightly uphill for the last 450 metres
- UCI category: Women's World Tour
- Premiere1974, 48th edition
- Last year's winner: Shirin van Anrooij
The route of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2024
Cittiglio, Binda's home town, is located on Lake Maggiore to the north of Milan. The race has been held there since 1974, during the lifetime of the athlete, who died in 1986 and also served as mayor in the 1960s. The start location changes regularly, but the finish is always Cittiglio.
The main part of the route is a circuit between the finish and Orino, the highest point of the 17.5 kilometres, which has to be completed five times in 2024. The climb to Orino is 2.5 kilometres long and a good five per cent steep on average. Another short stitch at Casale has a gradient of 7.3 per cent at 800 metres. These are the two difficulties of the circuit. On the approach to the circuit, on which Orino is passed an additional time, the peloton crosses the Masciago Primo once - a 6.1 kilometre climb with an average gradient of four per cent.
The favourites for the Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2024
If the SD Worx - Protime team is at the start these days, the team is almost automatically one of the biggest contenders for victory. In the absence of Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes, who recently played with the competition at the Ronde van Drenthe (1st WWT) and Nokere Koerse (1st Pro), as well as Demi Vollering, the role of top favourite this time falls to Marlen Reusser. The Swiss rider has also been successful this season, winning her only race, the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana (2nd Pro), before a bout of flu knocked her out.
Otherwise, Lidl-Trek in particular has a strong team at the start. Shirin van Anrooij and Elisa Balsamo, the two women who finished first and second last year, will be returning. The duo has already achieved top placings this year, but often had to fall behind the SD-Worx competition.
Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) should also have prospects of success. She recently finished third at the Ronde van Drenthe. She lacked the power for more in the final, but had already put it into the wind when she initiated an escape group. Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and the Movistar duo Olivia Baril and Arlenis Sierra could ride into the front.
Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2024: TV broadcast and live stream
The Trofeo Alfredo Binda will only be streamed live on discovery+ and Eurosport. The broadcast begins on Sunday (17 March) 2:30 pm and runs until around 4 p.m.. There will be a one-hour summary on Eurosport 2 from 8pm.
