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We roll out from Luino at 13:00 CET, in around five minutes, before tackling 3.8km of neutral before the race proper gets under way.
After a loop around the start town on the shores of Lake Maggiore, we head inland, over the first classified climb, then onto one lap of an anticlockwise circuit. Crossing the line with 88km to go, they then race five hilly laps of 17.6km, with climbs at Casale and the one at Orino the main obstacles.
Thalita de Jong is exactly the kind of punchy all-rounder who could win today, here the Human Powered Health rider signs on before the start.
Trofeo Binda has started in a fair few different locations over the years, but the race has settled on the same closing circuit which includes the Orino climb.
The riders are currently signing on in Luino. Here the UNO-X Mobility squad pose for the crowds.
Whatever the scenario, reading how last year’s race panned out will give you a taste of how today might evolve, and you can read how Balsamo won in our race report here.
One such punchy sprinter is Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) who won the race for the third time last year. She’s not riding today, so she can’t match the record of four wins Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) shares with Maria Canins, though Vos is present so could easily make it five!
The peloton are set for a lumpy old route, with climbs all day long and more than 2,300m of vertical ascent. Despite some gradients over 10%, none of the climbs are too long or too hard, making the race one for a wide variety of riders from climbers to punchy sprinters.
We’re in north-western Italy, north of Milan on the east side of Lake Maggiore for today’s 152.7km race between Luino and the event’s spiritual home of Cittiglio, a few kilometres inland from the lakeside town of Laveno Mombello, which used to host the race start.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda Comune di Cittiglio.
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