Created by RCS Sport, organizers of the Giro d'Italia and first held during the spring COVID-19 in May, the event will feature two races: one for climbers on the slopes of a virtual Stelvio, the other in the Tuscan countryside The other is a race for sprinters on virtual roads in the Tuscan countryside.
The virtual races will be broadcast online on TV and various channels and social media platforms, including Eurosport, Flobikes, and the Challenge of Stars Facebook page. The sprint race will start at 5 pm CET and the climbing race at 7 pm CET.
Competitors face off on a very short course, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals; at the May event, the climber race was only 2.9 km long and the sprinter race only 1.2 km long.
The UCI recently hosted its first official Esports World Championships on the Zwift platform, with German rower Jason Osborne showing his mettle to win the men's title and Ashley Moolman Pacio taking the women's title.
Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) clashed with Ciccone (Trek Segafredo) in the first round of the climber's race, Logrich (Jumbo Wisma) with Ben Zwiehoff (Bora Hansgrohe) and Bauke Morema (Trek Segafredo) ) will face Harold Tejada (Astana) and Joan Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) will face Belgium's Harm Van Hoek (Lotto Soudal).
Ciccone won the Challenge of Stars in May, defeating Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) in the final. Fabio Jaskobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won the sprinters' race, defeating Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).
In the Boxing Day sprint race, Euan (Lotto Soudal) clashed with Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) with Sacha Modolo (Alpecin Phoenix). Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) will face Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Bennett (Detunink-Quickstep) will face Tim Merlier (Alpecin Phoenix).
"I haven't raced since winning the Giro, so it's fun to blow off some steam and take on the best climbers in the world in The Challenge of Stars. Let's see if I can do well in this knockout tournament."
DeMare won four stages and the cyclamen points jersey at this year's Giro d'Italia, but he won't be able to count on his superior lead-out train at The Challenge of Stars.
"I'm not as competitive as I was at the last Giro d'Italia, but for me this is a game, a cycling party, and a nice moment to share with the public when I don't usually interact much with fans.
"The level of contestants is impressive and challenging. This format is all new to me and I am already caught up in the game."
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