The Grand Tours and World Championships are over but the season still has life and Saturday's Giro dell'Emilia is a key stepping stone to Il Lombardia.
The spate of late-season Italian one-day races has already begun with the Giro della Toscana, Coppa Sabatini, and Thursday's Coppa Agostoni.
However, things step up a notch at the Giro dell'Emilia, with Tadej Pogačar, Julian Alaphilippe, Aleksandr Vlasov, and the Yates twins among a star-studded line-up for the ProSeries race.
The race suits the punchers, with five ascents of the steep San Luca climb in Bologna in a breathless circuit-based finale.
Primoz Roglic has won two of the past three editions but will not be out to defend his title as he hangs up his wheel following a bruising campaign that saw him crash out of the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. In the Slovenian's absence, Jumbo-Visma line up without a key favourite, although the new world time trial champion Tobias Foss and the talented British trainee Thomas Gloag catch the eye.
Elsewhere, there's no shortage of quality. Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar is present as he builds towards his Lombardia defence the following weekend. The Slovenian heads up a strong UAE Team Emirates line-up that also includes Marc Hirschi, Davide Formolo, George Bennett, Rafal Majka, Alessandro Covi, and 2013 winner Diego Ulissi.
Alaphilippe will be wearing his team-issue QuickStep-AlphaVinyl kit for the first time in two years after handing over the rainbow jersey to Remco Evenepoel at the recent World Championships. Evenepoel will race Binche-Chimay-Binche next week for time in front of his home Belgian fans but from a competitive point of view the world champion's season is effectively over. Alaphilippe will be out to put a nicer final note on a trying campaign by winning Il Lombardia for the first time, and he'll be flanked by the dangerous Mauri Vansevenant.
Ineos Grenadiers are among the strongest teams, with Adam Yates, Daniel Martinez, Carlos Rodriguez, and Tao Geoghegan Hart leading the charge. There's also a pro debut for Leo Hayter, the youngster who dominated the U23 Giro this year and who'll turn professional with Ineos next year.
Israel-Premier Tech appear resigned to the fate of being relegated from the WorldTour but, either way, they'll be out to go out with a bang at the Italian Classics. In Dylan Teuns, Jakob Fuglsang, and Michael Woods - all former podium finishers - they have perhaps the strongest collection of punchers in the race.
Vlasov, who won the race in his 2020 breakthrough, leads Bora-Hansgrohe, while Simon Yates leads BikeExchange-Jayco and David Gaudu is a strong card for Groupama-FDJ.
Elsewhere, Alejandro Valverde makes the third-last appearance of his long career, with only Tre Valli Varesine and Il Lombardia to come next week. Movistar are now safe from relegation but they're still dreaming of a winning send-off to their long-time talisman.
For a full look at the start list, check below.
The 105th edition of the Giro dell'Emilia takes place over 198.7km in Bologna, with the San Luca circuits the centrepiece.
The route rolls out from Carpi for 60 flat kilometres before the long climb of Ca Bortolani, soon followed by the slightly steeper Medelana climb.
But the race really ignites when they come into Bologna's old town and then head out and up the steep slopes to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca. At the end of a hard race, gaps can open in the blink of an eye on the double-digit gradients, with the climb measuring 2km.
The riders will cover five laps of the 9km finishing circuit, which dips down briefly, then kicks up briefly, then descends back around to the foot of the climb. With no flat, it will be a relentless final hour of racing.
