The second edition on October 14, 2022. The protagonists of the first Gravel World Championship, which will be held the week before, are expected at the start.
PP Sport Events is perfecting the last details of Serenissima Gravel, the race that in 2021 inaugurated the series of Gravel competitions reserved for professionals and which this year is being repeated on Friday, October 14 with some interesting new features. The competition will start from the Po Delta Park, one of the most interesting areas of Veneto from a naturalistic and touristic point of view. Leaving the province of Rovigo, the route will "dance" between the provinces of Venice and Padua for two thirds of its length, to then cross the Padua border for the last time. The preliminary operations and the start will take place at the Barricata Holiday Village, in the Municipality of Porto Tolle (Rovigo). The race will run along the coast of the large basin of Sacca di Scardovari, then reach the right bank of the Po. The route continues towards the Adige. A few kilometers along the embankment and then it continues north to reach the gates of Chioggia, where the Brenta river will await the runners. The Bacchiglione tributary will guide the Serenissima Gravel competitors for a stretch, then the course of the Brenta will be followed to Padua and beyond, when the municipality of Piazzola sul Brenta, the final arena of Serenissima Gravel, will be entered. An 11-kilometer circuit, half of which on a dirt road, will be repeated three times, until the odometer reads approximately 170. This year too, the finish line will be located in the wonderful Piazza Paolo Camerini, with the sumptuous Villa Contarini acting as a backdrop to the arrival of the runners. The central part of the route may undergo some partial changes in some sections. Serenissima Gravel will be held on completely flat roads but rich in different environmental contexts and types of terrain, on which it will be up to the riders to make life difficult for their opponents.
“This edition of Serenissima Gravel will introduce the cycling public to areas of Veneto that are not always in the spotlight but that have a lot to offer, especially from a cycling tourism point of view – says Filippo Pozzato, general manager of PP Sport Events -. I must thank the Board of Directors of the Po Delta Park for the support they provided us in hosting the first part of the route, as well as the Municipal Administration of Piazzola su Brenta, which this year too is providing us with one of the most precious architectural settings in the region. Even if there are no climbs, I am convinced that the race will become selective and spectacular, 170 kilometers is still a demanding distance, especially if you ride on dirt roads”.
“Just a few days before, we will organize the first elite Gravel World Championship in Veneto, an important test but also a source of pride for me and for all the people who work at PP Sport Events – continues Pozzato -. Gravel has more and more practitioners, an expanding market, an increasingly busy calendar of events and a media interest that is growing at the same pace. We do our part and we try to do it well. Veneto is our favorite location, a land that, at this rate, is on its way to becoming one of the cradles of gravel cycling at a global level”.
Serenissima Gravel is the second event of Ride the Dreamland, which begins on October 12 with the 85th edition of the Giro del Veneto and continues on October 15 with the social ride VENEtoGO, to conclude on Sunday October 16 with Veneto Classic. Last year, the inaugural edition of Serenissima Gravel crowned Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko of the Astana Premier Tech team, author of a long solo breakaway. Second and third place went to Riccardo Milani (Intermarché) and Nathan Haas (Cofidis).
“We are truly happy to host the first stretch of the Serenissima Gravel and to begin a fruitful collaboration with Filippo Pozzato,” says the President of the Po Delta Park, Moreno Gasparini. “Events of this level are the starting point for promoting the area. Through low-impact sporting events that bring environmental values, we can spread ever greater awareness of the environmental heritage and natural capital present in the Po Delta, personally involving local economic operators, communities and tourists.”
“We are thrilled to also welcome the arrival of the second edition of Serenissima Gravel,” commented Igor Callegari, municipal councilor of Piazzola sul Brenta. In 2021, Filippo Pozzato’s project was widely appreciated for its uniqueness and vision, both sporting and cultural-tourist. It takes great skills, professionalism and courage to make big dreams come true and Filippo has demonstrated all these qualities. The Administration is trying to invest in all sports as a factor of human and social growth for young people. Our Region has enviable natural beauty and these events are certainly a postcard to send beyond our borders".
