Italian autumn classics

Starting Thursday, teams will take on three classic races over four days including the 56th Coppa Sabatini (199km) on October 9, the 91st Giro dell'Emilia (198.9km) on Saturday, October 11, and the 12th G.P. Beghelli (195.8km) on Sunday.

Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin has good memories of the Giro dell'Emilia. In 2006, the Italian won and last year, he finished second. He'll be supported by Fabian Wegmann, who finished second in last year's G.P. Beghelli and John Fröhlinger and Oliver Zaugg, who showed good form at the Memorial Cimurri recently with an eighth place.

The CSF Group - Navigare team will try to take advantage of the good form of Maxi Richeze in the Coppa Sabatini, of Pozzovivo at the Giro dell'Emilia and of Mauro Finetto at the G.P. Beghelli.

Team Liquigas will try its luck for a 30th season victory with the likes of Daniele Bennati, Filippo Pozzato, Franco Pellizotti and Leonardo Bertagnolli. Bennati and Pozzato are the team's best bets.

"Sprint finishes are frequent on this route," said D.S. Paolo Slongo of Thursday's race, "but the selection on the last climb could be hard for the pure sprinters, while Daniele and Pippo have the ideal characteristics to hang on and find success."

When the road goes up, Pellizotti and Bertagnolli are expected to do well. Referring to both weekend races, Slongo said, "These are two hard races, but our captains have an enviable form. It will be important to have enough strength at the end. The San Luca on Saturday and the Zappolino on Sunday are two selective climbs. We're confident."

Gerolsteiner:Mathias Frank, Johannes Fröhlinger, Oscar Gatto, Nico Keinath, Tim Klinger, Davide Rebellin, Matthias Ruß, Fabian Wegmann and Oliver Zaugg under D.S. Christian Wegmann.

CSF Group - Navigare:Federico Canuti, Marco Frapporti, Mauro Finetto, Domenico Pozzovivo, Maximiliano Ariel Richeze, Filippo Savini, Francesco Tomei, Fortunato Baliani under D.S. Roberto Reverberi

Liquigas: Daniele Bennati, Filippo Pozzato, Franco Pellizotti, Leonardo Bertagnolli, Kjell Carlström, Mauro Da Dalto, Aleksandr Kuschynski, Matej Mugerli, Alessandro Vanotti, Gorazd Stangelj, Valerio Agnoli, Vladimir Miholjevic (Saturday only), Andrea Noè (Saturday only), Beghelli Carlström (Sunday only) and Vanotti (Sunday only) under DS Paolo Slongo and DS Stefano Zanatta.

Ceramica Flaminia for Trittico d'Autunno: Coppa Sabatini - Maurizio Biondo , Wladimir Duma, Cristiano Fumagalli, Leonardo Giordani, Mikhaylo Khalilov, Hubert Krys, Luigi Sestili; Giro dell'Emilia - Julian Dario Atehortua, Giampaolo Caruso, Leonardo Giordani, Dainius Kairelis, Hubert Krys, Tomasz Marczynski, Luigi Sestili, Filippo Simeoni; GP Beghelli - Adriano Angeloni, Maurizio Biondo, Giampaolo Caruso, Wladimir Duma, Cristiano Fumagalli, Dainius Kairelis, Mikhaylo Khalilov, Tomasz Marczynski

(Additional editorial assistance provided by Susan Westemeyer.)