Every Labor Day weekend, the streets around St. Ambrose Catholic Church fill with professional bike racers and the crowds who come to watch them. The Giro della Montagna has been part of life on The Hill since 1986. This article traces its history; for spectator tips, see our Giro della Montagna events guide.
A neighborhood idea
The race was the idea of Joe Torrisi, a lifelong Hill resident, and it was first held in 1986, according to the Gateway Cup and Hill 2000. The race organization says it took a few years, with help from the St. Louis Cyclones, for the event to build momentum.
The Giro did not start out on Labor Day. It was originally held over the Fourth of July weekend, timed to attract riders who were already in St. Louis for the VP Fair cycling races, the Gateway Cup and USA Cycling both report.
Joining the Gateway Cup
In 1998 the Giro became the cornerstone of the Gateway Cup, the multi-day series of races across the St. Louis area, and it moved to the Labor Day weekend slot, according to USA Cycling. The Gateway Cup now runs over four days with a different course each day: Lafayette Square on Friday, Francis Park on Saturday, The Hill on Sunday and Old Town Florissant on Monday. Big Shark Bicycle Company’s events group has coordinated the races in recent years, the Gateway Cup says.
USA Cycling reported in 2024 that the Giro had been held every year since 1986 except 2020, when it was canceled because of COVID-19.
The course
The Giro is a criterium, a race of many laps on a short closed circuit. The Hill course is a one-mile rectangle with four corners and just under 40 feet of climbing per lap, according to USA Cycling. The start and finish line is in front of St. Ambrose, according to the Gateway Cup, and the organizers’ 2026 notice to residents listed early closures on Wilson Avenue and Marconi Avenue for race day.
The race’s own description puts it plainly: “The Course is called “The Hill” for a reason.” The climb between the second and third turns decides much of the race, and the fourth turn leads into a fast downhill sprint, which makes positioning on the last lap critical. USA Cycling noted that the climb matters more for setting up the sprint than for its difficulty, and that riders who are well placed going into turn three have the advantage.
Recent winners
The Giro is now the final stop of the American Criterium Cup, a national professional series, which means the series’ season titles are decided on The Hill.
- 2023: Danny Summerhill won the men’s race and Marlies Mejías won the women’s race, according to USA Cycling.
- 2025: On August 31, Richard Holec won the men’s race and Josephine Peloquin won the women’s race, Cyclingnews reported.
- 2026: Barbara Guarischi of Italy won the women’s race in a sprint, and 22-year-old Preston Eye, riding what Cyclingnews called his hometown race, edged Luke Fetzer by a tire’s width to win the men’s race, Cyclingnews reported.
The 2026 edition
The 2026 Giro was scheduled for Sunday, September 6, the third day of a Gateway Cup that ran from September 4 to 7. Skylar Schneider and Justin Williams, both of L39ION of Los Angeles, clinched the American Criterium Cup individual titles that day, and Fetzer won the four-day Gateway Cup title, according to Cyclingnews. The American Criterium Cup’s race recap reported that the crowd broke into Italian chants during Guarischi’s post-race interview, and that Eye’s win was the biggest of his career.
Alongside the professional racing, Trailnet hosts a recreational ride, the Trailnet Giro della Lou Ride, before the race, according to the Gateway Cup.
For more on the neighborhood’s past, see our History of The Hill timeline.
Sources: Gateway Cup, Gateway Cup schedule, Gateway Cup neighborhood notice, Hill 2000, USA Cycling, Cyclingnews (2025), Cyclingnews (2026), American Criterium Cup
