Tomorrow the 43rd Trofeo Sportivi di Briga Novarese will take place. At the traditional August appointment organized by Società Sportivi Briga of patron Giuseppe Bellosta, 175 Elite and Under 23 riders will participate, representing 35 teams and 5 continents. A distance of 177 kilometers will be covered with a start at 1 PM, and compared to recent editions the elevation profile will be more demanding. A circuit of 14.3 km will be repeated 10 times, including the Oriotorba climb, followed by an unprecedented long loop with ascents at Bolzano Novarese, Pogno and Gargallo.

As usual, the Trofeo Sportivi Briga will finish on the San Colombano Wall, in front of the small Church. The toughening of the finale will probably force the sprinters to throw in the towel well before San Colombano. Not like in the 1995 edition, with sprinter Alessandro Petacchi who finished 5th. Alessandro wore the colors of Il Micco Pistoia. A few months later Petacchi moved to Scrigno, the 1996 name of Bruno Reverberi's professional team. At the 2004 Trofeo Sportivi di Briga, the Under 23 National Team was fielded, captained by Vincenzo Nibali with Antonio Fusi as technical commissioner. It was Italy preparing for the Verona World Championships. Nibali finished 3rd on San Colombano. The Sicilian that year was registered with Mastromarco. Nibali raced at Briga confident of becoming a few months later a rider for the professional Fassa Bortolo.

This year the Swatt Club riders are the favorites, fresh from the professional Tour of Denmark. In particular Manuel Oioli, who, being from Cureggio – very close to Briga – will enjoy the home advantage. Currently the best result for the "enfant du pays" at Briga is a 3rd place. Swatt has also entered Nicolò Pettiti, from Cuneo in Sant'Albano Stura, very well-suited to the course designed by Giuseppe Bellosta.

The "Sportivi Briga" is also ideal for Gabriel Fede from Cuneo, leading man of Rostese, and Davide De Cassan from Verona, recently triumphant at Monte Cengio, almost certainly as captain of General Store-Essegibi-Curia. Nicolò Arrighetti, first at Briga in 2025, is now with General Store-Essegibi. Besides Swatt and General Store, the other UCI Continental teams competing at Briga will be Padovani-Polo-Cherry Bank, which has entered Marco Palomba, 2nd in the 2025 edition, Vega-Vitalcare, Campana-Morbiato-Trentino, Biesse-Carrera-Premac, Technipes-#InEmiliaRomagna, Beltrami-Tre Colli, Sporting Club Gragnano, Solme-Olmo-Arvedi, MG K Vis. The cast will be enriched by Sports Groups classified as "club". Petrucci-Aries, Trentino Cycling, Polisportiva Tripetetolo, Unione Ciclistica Pistoiese, Aran-Vejus, Team Hopplà, Overall-Tre Colli, Unione Ciclistica Pregnana, Futura Team, Valle Seriana-Cene have confirmed their participation. And on the Novara roads you will also see the jerseys of Beltrami-Tsa - La Risorsa Umana, Vertematese, Nippo-Nuova Comauto, Maltinti-Banca di Cambiano, Goodshop-Yoyogurt, Gaiaplast Bibanese, Gallina-Lucchini-Ecotek, Rime-Drali, as well as logically Rostese.

Regarding foreign teams, Baix Ebre Tortosa is a Spanish team but will field Russian athletes, Velo Club Mendrisio will have Italian and Swiss riders, and the Zappi team will also compete, with competitive forces from various countries, as well as the Ukrainian National Team. The official list of starters will be released Thursday morning after license verification. Piazza Unità d'Italia will become an authentic arena and will also be the venue for the team presentations. The first team will be presented at 11:20 AM. Giuseppe Bellosta and his valuable collaborator Gabriella Ambrosi (advisor to the Piedmont Committee of the Italian Cycling Federation) are very close friends of Justine Mattera. It will be the Italian-American show-girl herself who will be the godmother of the protagonists of the Trofeo Sportivi di Briga. Cycling has forcefully entered Justine's life: she is also the mother of Vivienne Cassata, Piedmont champion of Junior women on the road.