The race was founded in 1984 and this year it will be the 32nd edition. In the year 1999 the race was named after the legendary Italian riders Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. Moreover, organizers also changed the location and moved to Emilia-Romagna region and the race is still held there to date.
The route has not seen significant changes to the previous year edition. Gatteo town hosts the first day of Coppi e Bartali in which riders are to manage two so called half-stages: a short group stage of 97,8 kilometers in the morning and a 13,3 kilometers long team time-trial in the afternoon, which riders of Gazprom – RusVelo won last year. On the second day riders are to manage 130 kilometers from Riccione to Sogliano sul Rubicone with a three-time steep climb to Monte Tiffi. In 2016 Sergey Firsanov was the first on this stage. The town of Crevalcore will host the third day of the race with 171,4 kilometers long distance and a certainly appealing route for sprinters. On the last stage we will see the competition among those riders who aim to win in GC. The total distance of the last craggy stage will be 160 kilometers with the kick off in Fiorano Modeneze and the finish line in Sassuolo. Valico di Fazzano hill, which riders are to conquer 4 times, will be the most challenging part of the crown stage.
Gazprom – RusVelo is aiming to repeat the success of the season 2016. The last year winner of Settimana Coppi e Bartali Sergey Firsanov shared his expectations about the upcoming race: «It’s not easy to win the title, but it is even harder to keep it. You feel the great pressure. However, not only is the season in high gear, but also my physical condition is taking off. We have a strong line-up and everybody is used to this route. We will be in upbeat mood for the start of Coppi e Bartali and craggy hills will show what we are capable of».
Gazprom – RusVelo line-up: Alexander Foliforov, Sergey Firsanov, Ivan Rovny, Kirill Sveshnikov, Artem Nych, Anton Vorobyev, Artur Ershov, Ildar Arslanov.
