The classic brought back to life by PP Sport Events will start in Padua and end in Vicenza after two laps on a large circuit on the Berici Hills. There are twenty participating teams. At the end of the race, a tribute to Marino Basso, the Vicenza native who became world champion 50 years ago.

It had disappeared from the calendar for many years until 2021, when PP Sport Events, or Filippo Pozzato, decided to bring it back to its former glory. The 85th Giro del Veneto, scheduled for Wednesday 12 October with departure from Padua and arrival in Vicenza (160 km, for a difference in altitude of 1,600 meters), raises the curtain on Ride The Dreamland 2022, four days of events "to rediscover Veneto as the chosen land of national and international cycling".

There are 20 participating teams, including Uae Team Emirates, Astana Qazaqstan Team, Trek Segafredo, Lotto Soudal, Cofidis, Time BikeExchange Jaico, Israel Premier Tech and Alpecin Deceuninck.

At 10 am the opening of the starting village in Prato della Valle, at 11.25 am the presentation of the participating teams, also in Prato della Valle. Start at 12.25 from via Armistizio, after a 4 km transfer. The route will wind through the Euganean Hills passing through Abano Terme, Torreglia, Galzignano, Rovolon, Teolo and, after the first 60 kilometers, will enter the province of Vicenza. There will be a few flat kilometers through Bosco and Nanto, then in Barbarano you climb the Berici Hills, to meet the climbs of Ca 'Lerna, Bocca d'Ansiesa and Perarolo from Brendola. It follows a 21.5 kilometre circuit that includes the climb towards Arcugnano, along the Strada Militare, and the ridge that leads to the Santuario di Monte Berico, protagonist last weekend of the start of the Gravel World Championship. The ring will be covered twice. New for the 85th Giro del Veneto, the climb to the Santuario will be tackled downhill. After the first passage in the centre of Vicenza along Corso Palladio, the riders will return to skirt the Berici hills to get back onto the Strada Militare. Once the second lap is over, the race will end on the straight of Via Roma, between 3.50pm and 4.15pm.

Last year, at the finish in Prato della Valle, in front of a large crowd, Belgian Xandro Meurisse won in a sprint over Matteo Trentin and Alberto Dainese. This year, Meurisse himself will start with the number 1. Among the initiatives surrounding the event, starting at 11 am in Piazza Castello in Vicenza, there will be some recreational activities, on mountain bikes, for boys and girls aged 5 and up, organised by the AF360 Bike Academy of the former professional cyclist from Vicenza Angelo Furlan. The little ones will try their hand, on two wheels (which will be made available, along with helmets, by the Bike Academy itself), in games of skill and various routes.

“I have wonderful memories of the Giro del Veneto,” says Filippo Pozzato, general manager of PP Sport Events, winner in 2009. “We designed a route that is not too hard but still selective and spectacular. My thanks go in particular to the mayor of Vicenza Francesco Rucco and the sports councillor Matteo Celebron, to the sports councillor of Padua Diego Bonavina, to the S.C. Padovani and the Municipalities of Abano Terme, Galzignano Terme, Torreglia, Rovolon, Teolo and Arcugnano. We would not be able to organize the Giro del Veneto without their support and that of our sponsors”. Main partner is Crédit Agricole.

The Giro del Veneto program also includes a tribute to a great of the past. The three world champions Francesco Moser, Moreno Argentin and Alessandro Ballan are among the personalities announced at the ceremony in honor of Marino Basso on the 50th anniversary of his victory at the World Championship in Gap in 1972. The ceremony, organized by the Municipality of Vicenza and PP Sport Events, is divided into two parts: during the awards ceremony in Viale Roma immediately after the race, the mayor of Vicenza Francesco Rucco will present Marino Basso with a plaque on behalf of the city, while in the Sala Stucchi in Palazzo Trissino-Baston, the seat of the Municipality, at 5:30 pm Basso's victory will be remembered again during a short meeting in the presence of various authorities. In the Stucchi room, the bicycle with which Basso won the title and the two original jerseys, the National one and the rainbow jersey, will be on display.

Ride The Dreamland 2022 will continue on Friday 14 October with Serenissima Gravel, from the Po Delta to Piazzola sul Brenta, on Saturday 15 October with the social ride VENEtoGO, with the participation of Sonni Colbrelli, Fabian Cancellara and Fabio Aru and, grand finale, on Sunday 16 October with the second edition of Veneto Classic, 199 kilometers from Treviso to Bassano del Grappa.