It’s going to be an exciting weekend in women’s cycling!
The oldest one-day women’s classic race on the calendar, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, will feature this year as GOAT Marrianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) will compete for the first time this season since recovering from surgery last year’s winner, powerhouse rider Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo).
Vos has won this race four times and is always a de facto favorite in every race she competes in.
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However, Balsamo will be the one to ride with the ‘Race Favorites’ target on her back as she aims to light up the tarmac with a repeat of her dramatic 2022 win.
But as with all classics, anything is possible with the track conditions.
Climbing starts in Cittiglio, Italy, during the 2022 Trofeo Alfredo Binda
how is the course
First held in 1974, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda was the only women’s-only race on the professional cycling calendar until the late ’80s, when the Giro d’Italia Donne made its debut.
The rolling course is 139km this year, culminating in a final lap around the Italian town of Cittiglio.
There are two strenuous climbs on the route, which are relatively short but tough. The Casale is only 800m long, but this short route has an average gradient of nine percent.
The Ornio is longer, roughly 3km, and while the average 4.6 percent gradient doesn’t sound too brutal for athletes of this caliber, the maximum incline of the climb is a leg-burning ten percent.
How to watch Trofeo Alfredo Binda
Live coverage of the race begins Sunday, March 19 at 9:30am EST.
The race will be broadcast in its entirety on GCN+, which is becoming the premier source for watching women’s WorldTour races.
Natascha Grief got her first job in a bike shop before she was old enough to drink. After six years working as a mechanic during which she earned some pro mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanics license, she became obsessed with frame building and decided to do that next. After Albert Eistentraut literally shooed her off his front door and admonished that if she devoted herself to frame building she would be poor forever, she got an apprenticeship with frame builder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, California. After that, she worked for several years for both large and smaller bicycle brands. At some point in there she also became a state-certified bike fitter. Natascha then became a certified personal trainer and continued her education as a trainer and coach for nine years while teaching spin at the same time. During the 2020 dumpster fire, she opened a gym and began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer. In 2022 she joined the staff of Bicycling as a news editor.
