The Tour of Magnificent Qinghai starting tomorrow from Xining will be heavily Italian-flavored. At the start of the oldest Chinese race in the calendar, there will be as many as 19 Italian representatives, the highest number since 2019, the last edition that took place with the 13-stage format. Of this small group, 14 will be making their absolute debut in the event, while for 13 of them it will even be their first time with a number on their back in Chinese territory.

All of them, regardless of their level of experience, will be tasked with strengthening Italy's relationship with the Qinghai race, a competitive context that has always been favorable to our colors. Excluding the years 2021 and 2022 when the race was open only to local or Asian teams, Italy has been able to celebrate (with a total of 20 different riders) at least one stage victory in 14 out of 21 editions, a record that has allowed our country to be clearly ahead of everyone in terms of partial victories (41) conquered in the history of the race. This primacy is the direct consequence of the many athletes (173, the second value after China's 307) lined up over the years at the starting line of the competition, a significant presence that has allowed Italy to win the general classification twice (with Missaglia in 2007 and Cunego in 2003), twice the climbers' classification (with Barbero in 2007 and Nieri in 2023) and three times the points classification with Carrara (2003), Colli (2016) and Modolo (2013), who, thanks especially to the 6 stages won out of 13 twelve years ago, is now at the top of the all-time stage wins list with 8 total victories.

In this ranking, Attilio Viviani and Davide Baldaccini of Solution Tech-Vini Fantini and Enrico Zanoncello and Manuele Tarozzi of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan are far from Modolo but, having all already celebrated once at Qinghai and being at the start of this edition, they might close the gap on the former rider from Conegliano, with Zanoncello and Viviani launching sprints and Tarozzi and Baldaccini attacking in the more challenging stages.

Giovanni Carboni (leader of Unibet Tietema Rockets) and Matteo Fabbro (climbing specialist for Solution Tech Vini Fantini) will try to hunt for their first success in the Chinese race, while the other thirteen Italians who flew to Asia for the occasion should act in support of their respective team leaders, ready to seize any opportunities the road might offer: Ludovico Crescioli, Gabriele Raccagni, Davide De Cassan and Mattia Bais for Polti-VisitMalta, Florian Kajamini and Michele Gazzoli of XDS Astana, Filippo d'Aiuto of Petrolike, Andrea Piras and Alessandro Iacchi of Solution Tech-Vini Fantini and Mattia Pinazzi, Alex Tolio, Luca Colanghi and Luca Covili of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan.

Moving beyond the Italian sphere and identifying who, like the Italians, will try to be a protagonist, we must certainly distinguish between those who will start with the aim of targeting the yellow jersey of the general classification and those who will focus more on chasing a stage victory.

Looking at the former, the two names that will certainly be worth watching are Harold Martin Lopez (winner of the last Tour of Hungary) and Henok Mulubrhan (1st at Tour of Qinghai Lake 2023), both belonging to the XDS Astana, the only World Tour team and therefore inevitably the beacon of the race. Those who could challenge them are the 2nd place finisher of the 2023 edition Guillermo Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros) and his teammates Fernando Barcelò and Joan Bou, the already mentioned Carboni, the Terengganu Cycling Team duo Stefan De Bod-Adne van Engelen, Mikel Bizkarra of Euskaltel-Euskadi, former Romanian champion Cristian Raileanu (Li Ning Star), Ivan Cobo of Equipo Kern Pharma and the battling trio from Burgos-Burpellet-BH composed of Mario Aparicio (stage winner a year ago), former EF rider Merhawi Kudus and Jambaljamts Sainbayar, all men with credentials to be competitive in the mountains and aim for a good general classification.

Moving on to those who can be in the running for partial triumphs, the bunch sprints should be a matter between Alexander Salby (Li Ning Star), Martin Laas (Quick Pro), Aaron Gate (XDS Astana), Norman Vahtra (China Anta - Mentech Cycling Team), Manuel Peñalver (Polti-VisitMalta), Miguel Fernandez (Equipo Kern Pharma), George Jackson (Burgos Burpellet BH), Eduard-Michael Grosu (Huansheng - Vonoa - Taishan Sport Team), Viviani and Zanoncello, while the more dynamic stages could tempt a considerably broader group of contenders.

In this perspective, it seems appropriate to note the numbers of potential classification leaders like Lopez, Mulubrhan, Aparicio, Silva, Cobo, Carboni, Fabbro, De Bod and Barcelò (who could find themselves at the front at the end in more than one circumstance) as well as riders like Mathias Bregnhøj (Terengganu Cycling Team), Francisco Joel Peñuela (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Edgar David Cadena (Petrolike), Charles Paige (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Tarozzi, Colnaghi, Natnael Berhane (Istanbul Büyükșehir Belediye Spor Türkiye), Simon Pellaud (Li Ning Star), Jon Agirre (Euskaltel – Euskadi) and 2018 Tour of Qinghai Lake winner Hernán Ricardo Aguirre (Tianyoude Hotel Cycling Team) who, by bravely anticipating, could animate winning attempts and find that space to get behind the group.

The latter will be composed of 152 athletes in total (92 of whom are Qinghai debutants) and will represent 38 nationalities, including Australia with the youngest rider at the start (18-year-old Will Heath of CCACHE x BODYWRAP) and Belarus with the oldest (44-year-old Yauhen Sobal of Chengdu DYC Cycling Team), all ready to ignite a race that, with the unpredictability given by the altitude, promises to be full of surprises.