| 2021 Gran Piemonte | |
| Date: | 7 October 2021 |
| Stages: | 1 |
| Distance: | 168 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 3h 34' 47" |
| First: | Matthew Walls |
| First Nat: | GBR |
| Second: | Giacomo Nizzolo |
| Second Nat: | ITA |
| Third: | Olav Kooij |
| Third Nat: | NED |
| Previous: | 2020 |
| Next: | 2022 |
The 2021 Gran Piemonte was the 105th edition of the Gran Piemonte road cycling one day race. It was held in the titular region of northwestern Italy on 7 October 2021 as part of the 2021 UCI Europe Tour and the 2021 UCI ProSeries calendars.[1]
After the previous two editions featured hilly routes, the race was expected to favour the sprinters for the first time since 2018.[2] The 168km (104miles) race along the southern edge of the Italian Alps started in Rocca Canavese and headed northeast.[3] Among the slightly undulating terrain, there was only one major hill on the course, La Serra, which was at an average gradient of 5.2 percent, and crested at into the race. The final featured two long false flat sections. The first false flat section finished at the top of an unmarked hill with around to go. After a short descent, riders then took on the second false flat section, which led to the finish in Borgosesia.[4] [5]
Matthew Walls held off Giacomo Nizzolo with a bike throw on line to win the race, while Olav Kooij, who had crashed just inside the final, rebounded to finish third.[6] This was the first of two victories within an hour of each other for, as Jordi Meeus won his own sprint at Paris–Bourges shortly thereafter.[7]
13 of the 19 UCI WorldTeams and eight UCI ProTeams made up the 21 teams that participated in the race.[8] With six riders each,,,, and, were the only teams to not enter a full squad of seven riders.,, and were also reduced to six riders after each team had one non-starter. A total of 140 riders started the race, of which 136 finished.[9] [10]
UCI WorldTeams
UCI ProTeams