Veneto Classic 2026 Preview: Steep Cobbles and the Last Italian One-Day Race

Veneto Classic closes the Italian one-day season with a race that saves its hardest terrain for the finale. The closing 25 kilometers include climbs where gradients exceed ten percent, often on cobbled surfaces that punish hesitation and poor bike handling. Sakarias Koller Loland won the 2025 edition ahead of Florian Vermeersch and Diego Ulissi, while Magnus Cort took the 2024 title, showing that the race rewards a range of profiles as long as they can handle explosive climbing on tired legs. The 2026 startlist will include riders who have been racing through the entire Italian autumn sequence alongside fresh legs targeting this specific finale. Positioning into the final climb is everything.