Formolo goes long to win Italian road title

Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed a spectacular victory in the Italian road race championship on Sunday, attacking from range before going it alone on the final three laps in Borgo Val di Taro. 

The reduced peloton came down 27 seconds later, led by Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida), with Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) grabbing the final podium spot. 

Formolo began his offensive some 60km from the finish, with five laps of the finishing circuit - punctuated by the climb to Strela - still to cover. Initially away with six others, he dominated the front of the race and left them behind on the descent of Strela with three laps still remaining. 

“It was very hot, it must have been 40 degrees,” Formolo said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I knew I had to invent something. I made a mistake counting the laps. I thought there were four left, but it was actually three, and that encouraged me.”

Formolo's lead was never great, but he never gave up, and there were question marks in the chase group. With a lead of 30 seconds heading into the last lap, the inevitable attacks came on the climb to Strela but nothing stuck and Formolo hardly ceded ground, negotiating the descent before finishing off a brilliant victory.

Second at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April, Formolo came away disappointed from the Giro d'Italia, where he placed 15th overall. He took time out after the corsa rosa and will now hope the national title is a springboard for further success later in the season. 

“Cycling is a sport of suffering, not of numbers,” Formolo said. “When you put a number on your back, you have to say, ‘Great, today I’m going to suffer, to hurt myself.’ If instead you start out stressed, you won’t go anywhere. You have to be happy in order to have the desire to suffer.”

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe5:35:23
2Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida0:00:27
3Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education FirstRow 2 - Cell 2
4Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 3 - Cell 2
5Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 4 - Cell 2
6Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 5 - Cell 2
7Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling AcademyRow 6 - Cell 2
8Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-AlpecinRow 7 - Cell 2
9Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-SegafredoRow 8 - Cell 2
10Marco Tizza (Ita) Amore & Vita-ProdirRow 9 - Cell 2
11Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 10 - Cell 2
12Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC TeamRow 11 - Cell 2
13Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Amore & Vita-ProdirRow 12 - Cell 2
14Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida0:00:30
15Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team0:00:34
16Davide Gabburo (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM0:01:53
17Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-FaizaneRow 16 - Cell 2
18Davide Rebellin (Ita) Sovac0:04:57
19Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-SegafredoRow 18 - Cell 2
20Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-SegafredoRow 19 - Cell 2
21Andrea CacciottiRow 20 - Cell 2
22Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team IneosRow 21 - Cell 2
23Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team IneosRow 22 - Cell 2
24Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-SegafredoRow 23 - Cell 2
25Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 24 - Cell 2
26Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF0:05:52
27Jacopo Mosca (Ita) D'Amico Um Tools0:06:20
28Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM0:06:54
29Paolo Totò (Ita) Sangemini-Trevigiani-Mg.K VisRow 28 - Cell 2
30Raul Colombo (Ita) Biesse CarreraRow 29 - Cell 2
31Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 30 - Cell 2
32Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert0:07:49
33Manuel Pesci0:08:33
34Ivan Martinelli (Ita) D'Amico Um ToolsRow 33 - Cell 2
35Francesco Romano (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 34 - Cell 2
36Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM0:09:41
37Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM0:10:26
38Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Ineos0:13:53
DNFAndrea Toniatti (Ita) Team ColpackRow 38 - Cell 2
DNFElia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStepRow 39 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Garosio (Ita) Bahrain-MeridaRow 40 - Cell 2
DNFEmanuele Onesti (Ita) Giotti VictoriaRow 41 - Cell 2
DNFMirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 42 - Cell 2
DNFLorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 43 - Cell 2
DNFMarco LandiRow 44 - Cell 2
DNFFabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStepRow 45 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Pacioni (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 46 - Cell 2
DNFGiovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-FaizaneRow 47 - Cell 2
DNFNiccolo SalviettiRow 48 - Cell 2
DNFAngelo Raffaele (Ita) D'Amico Um ToolsRow 49 - Cell 2
DNFAntonio Santoro (Ita) Monkey Town-A BlockRow 50 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 51 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo FiorelliRow 52 - Cell 2
DNFOscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-HansgroheRow 53 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Sterbini (Ita) Giotti VictoriaRow 54 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Busato (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 55 - Cell 2
DNFManuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 56 - Cell 2
DNFDanilo Celano (Ita) Amore & Vita-ProdirRow 57 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 58 - Cell 2
DNFVincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-MeridaRow 59 - Cell 2
DNFAlberto Amici (Ita) Biesse CarreraRow 60 - Cell 2
DNFDavide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling AcademyRow 61 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 62 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco MessieriRow 63 - Cell 2
DNFEros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStepRow 64 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Raggio (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 65 - Cell 2
DNFIvan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-FaizaneRow 66 - Cell 2
DNFNiccolo BonifazioRow 67 - Cell 2
DNFJalel Duranti (Ita) Team ColpackRow 68 - Cell 2
DNFMattia Bais (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli ASDRow 69 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 70 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo TaglianiRow 71 - Cell 2
DNFVincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 72 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Oss (Ita) Bora-HansgroheRow 73 - Cell 2
DNFNicholas CianettiRow 74 - Cell 2
DNFMattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 75 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 76 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Spreafico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 77 - Cell 2
DNFEdward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 78 - Cell 2
DNFLeonardo Bonifazio (Ita) Sangemini-Trevigiani-Mg.K VisRow 79 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Ravanelli (Ita) Biesse CarreraRow 80 - Cell 2
DNFRiccardo Minali (Ita) Israel Cycling AcademyRow 81 - Cell 2
DNFLorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 82 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Di RenzoRow 83 - Cell 2
DNFDavide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 84 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 85 - Cell 2
DNFMassimo Rosa (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 86 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-FaizaneRow 87 - Cell 2
DNFGiacomo Garavaglia (Ita) Team ColpackRow 88 - Cell 2
DNFEnrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-AlpecinRow 89 - Cell 2
DNFGiacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension DataRow 90 - Cell 2
DNFYuri ColonnaRow 91 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Bresciani (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 92 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 93 - Cell 2
DNFRiccardo MarchesiniRow 94 - Cell 2
DNFMattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 95 - Cell 2
DNFRoberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team EmiratesRow 96 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 97 - Cell 2
DNFDamiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-FaizaneRow 98 - Cell 2
DNFAntonio Di Sante (Ita) Sangemini-Trevigiani-Mg.K VisRow 99 - Cell 2
DNFFederico Burchio (Ita) D'Amico Um ToolsRow 100 - Cell 2
DNFEdoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-ScottRow 101 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 102 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro FrangioniRow 103 - Cell 2
DNFManuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 104 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTMRow 105 - Cell 2
DNFManuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 106 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Bevilacqua (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 107 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo Rocchetti (Ita) Team ColpackRow 108 - Cell 2
DNFLorenzo FrisciaRow 109 - Cell 2
DNFDamiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-MeridaRow 110 - Cell 2
DNFAttilio VivianiRow 111 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 112 - Cell 2
DNFGiuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 113 - Cell 2
DNFLeonardo TortomasiRow 114 - Cell 2
DNFAntonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-MeridaRow 115 - Cell 2
DNFDavide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStepRow 116 - Cell 2
DNFUmberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 117 - Cell 2
DNFImerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-FaizaneRow 118 - Cell 2
DNFDario Puccioni (Ita) Sangemini-Trevigiani-Mg.K VisRow 119 - Cell 2
DNFOrlando Pitzanti (Ita) D'Amico Um ToolsRow 120 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-ScottRow 121 - Cell 2
DNFManuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 122 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco BaldiRow 123 - Cell 2
DNFDario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 124 - Cell 2
DNFRiccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Giotti VictoriaRow 125 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-SidermecRow 126 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTMRow 127 - Cell 2

 

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