This weekend splits the peloton between two major events. The Giro dell’Emilia takes place on Saturday 3 October from Ferrara to the iconic San Luca climb in Bologna, while the elite men’s European Championships road race is held the following day in Slovenia.
Giro dell’Emilia (Saturday)
Tom Pidcock heads the favourites list after two consecutive second places. The Brit will face newly crowned world champion Brandon McNulty, who makes his rainbow jersey debut with strong UAE Team Emirates-XRG support that includes Adam Yates, Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez.
Other key names expected on the start line include Lenny Martinez, Mikel Landa, Ben Healy, Ben Tulett, Oscar Onley, Thymen Arensman, Lennert Van Eetvelt and Marc Hirschi. Nairo Quintana will also start, marking the final race of his professional career.
European Championships (Sunday)
Remco Evenepoel is the clear favourite in Slovenia, backed by a solid Belgian squad featuring Maxim Van Gils, Quinten Hermans and Ilan Van Wilder.
Home hopes rest with Primoz Roglic and Matej Mohoric. Other strong contenders include Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Juan Ayuso (Spain), Giulio Ciccone and Giulio Pellizzari (Italy), and Romain Grégoire (France).