Local residents Tom Pidcock, Mattias Skjelmose and Toms Skujiņš are among the names expected to be on the startlist for Sunday's Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica (Sunday, June 22), the first-ever UCI one-day race to be held in the small Pyrenean principality.
Launched last October, after a long history of the Vuelta a España and Tour de France visiting Andorra, the race will be the nation's first event held solely within its borders. The Classica Andorra Pirineus was planned for 2024, but did not go ahead.
Despite its brand-new status, the MoraBanc Clàssica has attracted a strong line-up, including four WorldTour teams and nine ProTeams.
Wearing number 1 will be Lidl-Trek's Carlos Verona, who is an ambassador for the event and one of the early pros to relocate to Andorra, which is now home to over 100 professionals across several disciplines.
Verona, who recently won a stage of the Giro d'Italia, will be joined in the Lidl-Trek line-up by Tour de France riders Skjelmose and Skujiņš, with several other riders on the startlist also expected to start the Tour next month.
For Skjelmose, it's a last-minute change of programme in his Tour build-up, who recently failed to start either the Tour de Suisse or Critérium du Dauphiné after suffering from illness.
Normally, it's unusual to see Tour riders racing a one-day race so close to the big goal. However, the difficulty of the MoraBanc Clàssica and its handy location for riders at home in Andorra has clearly made it an attractive prospect.
The race is only 138.5km long, but packed full of climbing, with hardly any flat roads in Andorra. The route features five categorised climbs, starting with the Port d'Envalira ascent (28km at 5%), and finishing in La Massana atop the Coll de la Botella (7km at 7.5%.
Also on the route are the Coll d'Ordino (8.8km at 5%), the Coll de la Comella (4.3km at 8%), and the Coll de Beixalis (6.5km at 8.5%). Added together, the route totals over 4,500m of climbing.
When it was launched, the 1.1-ranked race hoped to attract 10 WorldTour teams and 10 ProTeams. Those numbers haven't quite materialised in its first edition, but with four WorldTour teams and big Pro-level riders such as Pidcock, Steff Cras and Davide Piganzoli, the race still has a competitive field.
Pidcock will not ride the Tour, as his Q36.5 team did not secure an invite, but will race the MoraBanc Clàssica before a return to the Vuelta later this summer. It's not yet clear whether Pidcock will do any mountain bike racing this season, with a round in Andorra at the start of July.
The MoraBanc Clàssica has been organised in conjunction with La Route d'Occitanie, which is providing "logistical back-up" and which shifted the dates of their race (18-21 June) to leave Sunday free for this new race.
According to words from Verona when the race was first launched, the next goal is to also run a women's race in Andorra.
