Our squad for the Italian one-day race will be a mixture of youth and experience.
A constantly undulating course with several small climbs throughout the day and an ending dotted with some challenging gradients in the Barolo wine region should make for an exciting day of racing this Wednesday at the Gran Piemonte. Created in 1906 and won by some of cycling’s biggest riders – from Costante Girardengo and Alfredo Binda to Eddy Merckx and Felice Gimondi – the Italian one-day race will be a perfect opportunity for many to test their legs ahead of Il Lombardia, scheduled just three days later.
Our team won’t be short of options, coming at the start of the 187km event with recent Tour de Pologne stage winner Davide Ballerini, Mattia Cattaneo, Dries Devenyns, Ian Garrison, Mikkel Honoré, and Pieter Serry, who will be joined by stagiaire Sean Quinn, the 20-year-old US rider who concluded sixth overall at last year’s Girobio.
“Gran Piemonte has a new and hard parcours this year, but we’ll start with the same motivation and hunger for a good result, which means we’ll try to be again among the protagonists and see what we can get out of it. The team is balanced, comprising some experienced riders, but also some young ones, including our stagiaire Sean Quinn, who has had some very promising results in the U23 ranks last season. We’re excited to have him on board and can’t wait to see him in action”, said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
Pieter Serry 
Mattia Cattaneo