Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio 2013

UCI Trofeo Binda highlights

24.03.2013 Official Site
Italy, One-day World Cup Road Race, 120.5km
UCI CDM

Binda wins Stage 1, Giro d'Italia 1927

Born on the 11th of August in 1902, Alfredo Binda combined excellence in one-day classics and the mountains of the stage races to become the Giro d'Italia's first star; his record of 41 stage wins not being beaten until 2003, some seventeen years after his death at the age of 83 and almost seven decades since his professional career came to an end. This race is named in his honour because he was born in Cittiglio and died there, on the 19th of July 1986.

The Trofeo Binda is one of the oldest women's races on the calendar, having first been held in 1974 when the Italian Giuseppina Micheloni was victorious; Belgian Nicole van den Broek won the following year, then Italians won every year through until 1996 after which the race was not held for two years. Frenchwoman Fany Lecourtois won in 1999, then Fabiania Luperini (who had also won in 1994) became the last Italian to win with her victory in 2000. Since then, it's been won by riders from a wide range of nations with the British doing especially well - Nicole Cooke won in 2005 and 2007, Emma Pooley in 2008 and 2011. However, as is the case in so many races, the Dutch superstar Marianne Vos has been enormously successful in recent years, dominating in much the same way that Binda dominated the Giro - she won in 2009, 2010 and 2012, now sharing the record for most wins with Maria Canins (1984, 1990, 1992). Canins, who enjoyed an extraordinarily long career (and not only in cycling; she was also National Cross Country Skiing Champion fifteen times), was 42 when she won for the final time; Vos will be near her 26th birthday when the race was run this year and there is every reason to expect her to break the record sooner or later - but it wasn't to be in 2013.

Altimetry profile - click to enlarge

We've had some Belgian and Dutch races with their typically short but painfully steep climbs already this season, but the Trofeo is the first of the mountainous European races - in it, riders face a long climb to the tiny and extremely beautiful mountain village Brinzio at 510m above sea level during the initial 62km, then four ascents of the 450m climb to Orino, the birthplace in 1905 of Battista Visconti who was third behind winner Binda on Stage 11 at the 1928 Giro, in the four 17.3km laps that finish the race. The road climbs still higher on the way out of Brinzio; the total climbing in the race is therefore greater than 2,310m - equal, give or take a few metres, to the famous Livigno Pass in Switzerland. However, the parcours includes a little bit of everything and doesn't favour any one type of rider, making it the perfect territory for an epic battle in which the outcome is far from certain.

The Parcours

Parcours map - click to enlarge

The main section/circuits format is increasingly popular in women's cycling as it both saves expenses for organisers (which can then be spent on advertising, website coverage and so on) and makes it easier for fans to see the race: rather than having to wait for a few moments' excitement as the peloton goes by - not such a problem in men's cycling, which attracts large numbers of devoted fans - spectators can pick a spot on the circuit and see the race go by several times, which is exactly what sponsors want to happen if they're going to put money into an event. This race is split into a main section of 62km and four circuits of 17.3km, all of them starting and ending at Cittiglio.

As the race set out from the Piazzale Alfredo Binda, nothing was certain except one thing - the cold, windy, wet and slippery conditions were likely to ensure a large number of riders abandoned or failed to finish in the permitted time.  The riders first took in a neutralised 6km stretch to Laveno-Mombello on the banks of Lago Maggiore where the racing got underway on the Via XXV Aprile. Much of this section was downhill, causing speeds sufficiently high to spread the peloton along the road in a long, thin ribbon and prevent early breaks as the race headed for the small climbs in the first 13.8km to Cuveglio.

After Cuveglio, the parcours headed mostly downhill for 14.6km and onto the first intermediate sprint at Luino, 28.4km into the race. The following 8.1km to Grantola is mostly flat, not really favouring any one type of rider and ending at the second intermediate sprint - thus far, the terrain had been an evenly-balanced mixture, meaning that neither climbers, sprinters nor all-rounders had yet had opportunity to gain an upper hand, with the pack still sailing along at a rate too high for breaks. It wasn't until the beginning of the first climb, 37km from the start, that a group got away - Shara Gillow (Orica-AIS), Ashleigh Moolman (Lotto-Belisol), Karol-Ann Canuel (Vienne Futuroscope) and Jessie Daams (Boels-Dolmans) put 50" between themselves and the peloton before rival teams decided they were too strong to be allowed to control the race and sent out chasers.

The road continued to climb for 9.6km after Cunardo, taking in a narrow cobbled road at Bedero Valcuvia after 43.9km, then reached the highest point of the race at Castello Cabiaglio 50.8km from the start and 507m above sea level; it's downhill for the next 11.2km to Cittiglio and the end of the main section. Now the riders headed east from Cittiglio, instead of west as they did earlier on the main section, and immediately began climbing the 0.6km to Brenta and on for the next 1.6km to Casalzuigno. The chasers had worked hard and successfully brought back the break by the time the the race turned right for the SP45 to Cuvio, begiining the climbs of 64m in 0.8km to Commachio (average gradient 8%) and then 106m in 2.2km to Orino (average gradient 4.8%) where the first riders to arrive collected GPM points. It had been expected that the climbers would attempt to take control here, but instead they stayed with the group and preserved energy for the last section of the race; then another group escaped. Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec-UCK) went off after them, caught them and then rode straight past on her own, making a solo break. Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) gave chase, but the Italian had found a reserve of strength the other riders lacked and extended her lead as the finish line approached, even proving too fast for Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) and Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon). The 21-year-old, winner of the Youth category at the Giro Donne in 2012, was alone with a comfortable advantage of 1'44" as she crossed the line to become the first Italian since 2000 to win this race, much to the delight of local fans - a splendid victory in what promises to become a glittering career.

A superb win for Elisa Longo Borghini

Johannson and van Dijk took second and third, crossing the line together 1'44" after Longo Borghini. Spratt had persisted in her efforts and took a very respectable fourth place at 1'51" before the main group led by Chantal Blaak (+2'21") arrived with Marianne Vos (Rabo) looking rather out of place in sixth - but the World Champion retains overall lead in the World Cup standings with 99 points after two competitions. Johansson is second with 85 points, van Dijk is third, also with 85 points. Longo Borghini moves into fourth place with 75 points.

Out of 160 starters, 94 did not finish.

Results

1 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products-UCK 3h12'16" 
2 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS +01'44" 
3 Eleonora Van Dijk (Ned) Specialized-Lululemon  
4 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Orica-AIS +01'51" 
5 Chantal Blaak (Ned) TIBCO-To The Top +02'21" 
6 Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
7 Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
8 Rossella Ratto (Ita) Hitec Products-UCK  
9 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Sengers    
10 Carmen Small (USA) Specialized-Lululemon  
11 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica-AIS  
12 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Specialized-Lululemon  
13 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Wiggle-Honda  
14 Marijn De Vries (Ned) Lotto-Belisol  
15 Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) Faren-Let's Go Finland Team  
16 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Orica-AIS  
17 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) BePink  
18 Adrie Visser (Ned) Boels-Dolmans    
19 Lucie Pader (Fra) France  
20 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
21 Ana Bianca Schnitzmeier (Ger) Wiggle-Honda  
22 Jessie Daams (Bel) Boels-Dolmans    
23 Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) Lotto Belisol  
24 Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) MCipollini-Giordana  
25 Megan Guarnier (USA) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
26 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) RusVelo  
27 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) MCipollini Giordana  
28 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-Lululemon  
29 Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Vienne Futuroscope  
30 Tetyana Ryabchenko (Ukr) Chirio Forno d'Asolo +02'28" 
31 Georgia Williams (NZl) BePink  
32 Claudia Hausler (Ger) TIBCO-To The Top  
33 Alizee Brien (Can) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
34 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Faren-Let's Go Finland +02'32"  
35 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Sengers   +03'08"  
36 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Poland  
37 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) Rabobank Liv/Giant +03'12"  
38 Shara Gillow (Aus) Orica-AIS +03'38" 
39 Katarzyna Wilkos (Pol) Poland +04'07"  
40 Monika Brzezna (Pol) Poland  
41 Paulina Brzezna-Bentkowska (Pol) Poland  
42 Francesca Cauz (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo +04'18"  
43 Emily Collins (NZl) Wiggle-Honda +05'07" 
44 Mayuko Hagiwara (Jpn) Wiggle-Honda  
45 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest +05'17" 
46 Agne Silinyte (Ltu) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
47 Rozanne Slik (Ned) Netherlands  
48 Liisi Rist (Est) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
49 Ursa Pintar (Slo) Slovenia  
50 Katazina Sosna (Ltu) Vaiano Fondriest  
51 Joanne Hogan (Aus) Bizkaia-Durango +05'22"  
52 Alexia Muffat (Fra) France +05'23"
53 Rossella Callovi (Ita) Pasta Zara-Cogeas +05'29" 
54 Martina Ruzickova (Cze) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
55 Willeke Knol (Ned) Argos-Shimano  
56 Christine Majerus (Lux) Sengers  
57 Elodie Hegoburu (Fra) France +05'37"  
58 Amelie Rivat (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
59 Sophie De Baer (Ned) Netherlands  
60 Valentina Carretta (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana +05'40"  
61 Anna Sanchis Chafer (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
62 Simona Frapporti (Ita) BePink  
63 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica-AIS  
64 Julia Soek (Ned) Sengers +05'59"  
65 Noemi Cantele (Ita) BePink +06'08"  
66 Aizhan Zhaparova (Rus) RusVelo +06'20" 
DNF Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
DNF Roxane Knetemann (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
DNF Katie Colclough (GBr) Specialized-Lululemon  
DNF Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen (Nor) Hitec Products-UCK  
DNF Rachel Neylan (Aus) Hitec Products-UCK  
DNF Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Hitec Products-UCK  
DNF Giada Borgato (Ita) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
DNF Silvija Latozaite (Ltu) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
DNF Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels-Dolmans  
DNF Martine Bras (Ned) Boels-Dolmans    
DNF Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Boels-Dolmans  
DNF Emma Trott (GBr) Boels-Dolmans  
DNF Elena Kuchinskaya (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Maria Mishina (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Elena Bocharnikova (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Kozonchuk Oxana (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Sara Grifi (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana  
DNF Valentina Scandolara (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana  
DNF Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana  
DNF Silvia Valsecchi (Ita) BePink  
DNF Dalia Muccioli (Ita) BePink  
DNF Ella Michal (Isr) Lotto-Belisol  
DNF Carlee Taylor (Aus) Lotto-Belisol  
DNF Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto-Belisol  
DNF Charlotte Becker (Ger) Argos-Shimano  
DNF Lucy Gerner (GBr) Argos-Shimano  
DNF Elke Gebhardt (Ger) Argos-Shimano  
DNF Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle-Honda  
DNF Beatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle-Honda  
DNF Evelyn Arys (Bel) Sengers  
DNF Sofie De Vuyst (Bel) Sengers  
DNF Jasmin Glaesser (Can) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Rushlee Buchanan (NZl) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Shelley Olds (USA) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Samantha Schneider (USA) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Faren-Let's Go Finland  
DNF Elena Cecchini (Ita) Faren-Let's Go Finland  
DNF Sara Mustonen (Swe) Faren-Let's Go Finland    
DNF Patricia Schwager (Swi) Faren-Let's Go Finland  
DNF Edwige Pitel (Fra) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Katsiaryna Barazna (Blr) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Mireia Epelde Bikendi (Spa) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Gloria Boldrini (Ita) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Azzurra D'Intino (Ita) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Anna Trevisi (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Valentina Bastianelli (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Alessandra D'Ettore (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Aleksandra Sosenko (Ltu) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Sarah Lena Hofmann (Ger) Team Polaris  
DNF Mascha Pijnenborg (Ned) Team Polaris  
DNF Janine Van Der Meer (Ned) Team Polaris  
DNF Aurore Verhoeven (Fra) Team Polaris  
DNF Katarzyna Pawlowska (Pol) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Mayra Del Rocio Rocha (Mex) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Lina Kristin Schink (Ger) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Charlene Delev (Ger) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Jessica Allen (Aus) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Oriane Chaumet (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Audrey Cordon (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Manon Souyris (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Lilibeth Chacon Garcia (Ven) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Dorleta Eskamendi Gil (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Mayalen Noriega (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Ane Santesteban Gozales (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Daniela Gass (Ger) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Larissa Ratkic (Aut) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Christina Perchtold (Aut) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Julia Hilber (Aut) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Elena Berlato (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Jennifer Fiori (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Irene Bitto (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Francesca Stefani (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Elena Valentini - Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Marina Lari (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Maria Cristina Nisi (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Corinna Defile' (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Veronica Cornolti (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Simona Bortolotti (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Roberta Tasca (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Uenia Fernandes Da Souza (Bra) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Egle Zablockyte (Ltu) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Elena Sitsko (Blr) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Julia Martisova (Rus) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Jessica Uebelhart (Swi) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Charlotte Lenting (Ned) Netherlands  
DNF Winanda Spoor (Ned) Netherlands  
DNF Melanie Bravard (Fra) France  
DNF Eva Mottet (Fra) France  
DNF Ludivine Loze (Fra) France  
DNF Polona Batagelj (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Alenka Novak (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Ajda Opeka (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Spela Kern (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Urska Kalan (Slo) Slovenia