Albasini wins Tre Valli Varesine

Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) snatched victory at the Tre Valli Varesine with a late sprint that allowed him to pass Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF) just before the finish line.

The experienced Swiss rider let Colbrelli chase late attacker Mauro Finetto (Neri Sottoli) and then caught and passed him with just 25 metres to go. Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) finished third in the same place after a group of eight riders formed the decisive break of the race on the hilly circuit around Varese.

The finale of the race was affected by several crashes with Enrico Gasparotto and Vincenzo Nibali sliding out a rain-soaked road crossing. Gasparotto got up and chased hard but failed to catch the lead group before the finish.

"It was very dangerous on the finishing circuit. Gasparotto crashed and so we were all afraid of going down," Albasini said. "There were a lot of attacks in the finale and I saw Pozzato on my wheel, so I was worried. But we caught the attacks at the finish and I managed to pass Colbrelli. I'm on form and rarely make mistakes in races, so it went my way."

The race was marked by an early breakaway by Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana), Marcos Garcia (Caja Rural), Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC) and David De La Cruz (NetApp-Endura). They were eventually caught on the finishing circuit in Varese. A different move of six riders went clear, including Fabio Duarte (Colombia), who won the under 23 world title on a similar course in 2008. However, the Astana and Cannondale teams controlled the chase and the move was caught with one and half laps of the twisting circuit remaining. Rain made the racing harder and more selective.

Albasini was quick to follow Gasparotto when he attacked and 11-rider move formed that also included Pozzato and Colbrelli. Nibali tried to block the chase behind to protect Gasparotto and so the gap grew. The 11 became eight after a climb with Gasparotto looking good. However his race ended, and probably his chances of securing a place in the Italian tea, when he crashed on a road crossing.

Manuel Bongiorno (Bardiani-CSF) also went down, with eight riders left up front. Zardini lead for Colbrelli on the final climb and then chased down an attack by Mauro Finetto (Neri Sottoli). When Finetti went again inside the final kilometre, Colbrelli opted to take up the chase. He closed down the mover and started his sprint but became an easy target for Albasini, who passed him close to the line.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge5:14:39
2Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 1 - Cell 2
3Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 2 - Cell 2
4Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 3 - Cell 2
5Damiano Caruso (Ita) CannondaleRow 4 - Cell 2
6Mauro Finetto (Ita) Neri SottoliRow 5 - Cell 2
7Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida0:00:04
8Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF0:00:07
9Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team0:00:22
10Antonio Parrinello (Ita) Androni Giocattoli0:01:23
11Gregor Muhlberger (Aut) Team Netapp - Endura0:01:25
12Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 11 - Cell 2
13Michel Kreder (Ned) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 12 - Cell 2
14Gian Marco Di Francesco (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 13 - Cell 2
15Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-MeridaRow 14 - Cell 2
16Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 15 - Cell 2
17Karel Hnik (Cze) MTN - QhubekaRow 16 - Cell 2
18Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 17 - Cell 2
19Patrick Konrad (Aut) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 18 - Cell 2
20Simone Petilli (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 19 - Cell 2
21Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Miguel Angel Benito Diez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 21 - Cell 2
23Simone Ponzi (Ita) Neri SottoliRow 22 - Cell 2
24Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 23 - Cell 2
25Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica GreenEdgeRow 24 - Cell 2
26Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 25 - Cell 2
27Tiago Machado (Por) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 26 - Cell 2
28Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) MTN - QhubekaRow 27 - Cell 2
29Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 28 - Cell 2
30Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Italy0:01:30
31Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge0:01:34
32Francesco Failli (Ita) Neri Sottoli0:01:57
33Davide Vigano (Ita) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 32 - Cell 2
34Sergei Pomoshnikov (Rus) Rusvelo0:02:21
35Kiryll Pozdnyakov (Rus) RusveloRow 34 - Cell 2
36Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 35 - Cell 2
37Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 36 - Cell 2
38José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 37 - Cell 2
39Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) CannondaleRow 38 - Cell 2
40Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia0:02:56
41Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 40 - Cell 2
42Sergey Lagutin (Rus) RusveloRow 41 - Cell 2
43Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 42 - Cell 2
44Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) ColombiaRow 43 - Cell 2
45Brice Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement0:03:23
46Cesare Ciommi (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 45 - Cell 2
47Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 46 - Cell 2
48Andrea Vaccher (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 47 - Cell 2
49Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge0:04:00
50Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA0:05:48
51Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 50 - Cell 2
52Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 51 - Cell 2
53Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 52 - Cell 2
54Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 53 - Cell 2
55Alessio Taliani (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 54 - Cell 2
56Fabio Taborre (Ita) Neri SottoliRow 55 - Cell 2
57Paolo Ciavatta (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 56 - Cell 2
58Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 57 - Cell 2
59Ricardo Pichetta (Ita) Team IdeaRow 58 - Cell 2
60Andrei Nechita (Rom) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 59 - Cell 2
61Alessandro Tonelli (Ita)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Federico Zurlo (Ita) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling TeamRow 61 - Cell 2
63Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani CSF0:06:25
64Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 63 - Cell 2
65Simone Antonini (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 64 - Cell 2
66Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli0:07:46
67Luca Dodi (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 66 - Cell 2
68Gianluca Mengardo (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 67 - Cell 2
69Igor Boev (Rus) RusveloRow 68 - Cell 2
70Mirko Tedeschi (Ita) Team IdeaRow 69 - Cell 2
71Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 70 - Cell 2
72Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA0:09:18
73David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) Team Netapp - EnduraRow 72 - Cell 2
DNFVincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 73 - Cell 2
DNFAlexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro TeamRow 74 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 75 - Cell 2
DNFMichele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 76 - Cell 2
DNFRuslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro TeamRow 77 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro TeamRow 78 - Cell 2
DNFArman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro TeamRow 79 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Paolini (Ita) Team KatushaRow 80 - Cell 2
DNFIuri Filosi (Ita) ItalyRow 81 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Andreetta (Ita) ItalyRow 82 - Cell 2
DNFGianni Moscon (Ita) ItalyRow 83 - Cell 2
DNFIvan Basso (Ita) CannondaleRow 84 - Cell 2
DNFAlberto Bettiol (Ita) CannondaleRow 85 - Cell 2
DNFOscar Gatto (Ita) CannondaleRow 86 - Cell 2
DNFGuillaume Boivin (Can) CannondaleRow 87 - Cell 2
DNFFabio Sabatini (Ita) CannondaleRow 88 - Cell 2
DNFJuraj Sagan (Svk) CannondaleRow 89 - Cell 2
DNFNiccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 90 - Cell 2
DNFIlia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre-MeridaRow 91 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 92 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 93 - Cell 2
DNFCaleb Ewan (Aus) Orica GreenEdgeRow 94 - Cell 2
DNFLeigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdgeRow 95 - Cell 2
DNFChristian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdgeRow 96 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Galviz (Ven) Androni GiocattoliRow 97 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Jose Ochoa (Ven) Androni GiocattoliRow 98 - Cell 2
DNFEmanuele Sella (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 99 - Cell 2
DNFGianfranco Zilioli (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 100 - Cell 2
DNFStefano Locatelli (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 101 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Manfredi (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 102 - Cell 2
DNFAngelo Pagani (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 103 - Cell 2
DNFStefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSFRow 104 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Fedi (Ita) Neri SottoliRow 105 - Cell 2
DNFJonathan Monsalve (Ven) Neri SottoliRow 106 - Cell 2
DNFMirko Tedeschi (Ita) Neri SottoliRow 107 - Cell 2
DNFGiorgio Cecchinel (Ita) Neri SottoliRow 108 - Cell 2
DNFRobinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) ColombiaRow 109 - Cell 2
DNFEdward Fabian Diaz Cardenas (Col) ColombiaRow 110 - Cell 2
DNFJarlinson Pantano (Col) ColombiaRow 111 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Julian Quintero (Col) ColombiaRow 112 - Cell 2
DNFJuan Pablo Valencia (Col) ColombiaRow 113 - Cell 2
DNFLeonid Krasnov (Rus) RusveloRow 114 - Cell 2
DNFTimofey Kritskiy (Rus) RusveloRow 115 - Cell 2
DNFRoman Maikin (Rus) RusveloRow 116 - Cell 2
DNFJohann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN - QhubekaRow 117 - Cell 2
DNFSogenzo Jim (RSA) MTN - QhubekaRow 118 - Cell 2
DNFTsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) MTN - QhubekaRow 119 - Cell 2
DNFAdrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) MTN - QhubekaRow 120 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Wesemann (RSA) MTN - QhubekaRow 121 - Cell 2
DNFTim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 122 - Cell 2
DNFMarcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 123 - Cell 2
DNFSander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 124 - Cell 2
DNFThomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 125 - Cell 2
DNFArthur Van Overberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - BaloiseRow 126 - Cell 2
DNFHeiner Rodrigo Parra Bustamente (Col) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 127 - Cell 2
DNFFernando Grijalba (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGARow 128 - Cell 2
DNFMirko Selvaggi (Ita) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 129 - Cell 2
DNFJérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 130 - Cell 2
DNFJérôme Gilbert (Bel) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 131 - Cell 2
DNFDanilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty - Groupe GobertRow 132 - Cell 2
DNFJaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 133 - Cell 2
DNFBartolomiej Kalaska (Pol) PolandRow 134 - Cell 2
DNFNikolay Mihaylov (Bul) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 135 - Cell 2
DNFMarek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 136 - Cell 2
DNFBranislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 137 - Cell 2
DNFMateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Polsat PolkowiceRow 138 - Cell 2
DNFJean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 139 - Cell 2
DNFArnaud Gerard (Fra) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 140 - Cell 2
DNFFlorian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 141 - Cell 2
DNFKevin Ledanois (Fra) Bretagne - Seche EnvironnementRow 142 - Cell 2
DNFSimone Carantoni (Ita) Team IdeaRow 143 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Collodel (Ita) Team IdeaRow 144 - Cell 2
DNFFabio Gadda (Ita) Team IdeaRow 145 - Cell 2
DNFDaniele Mossini (Ita) Team IdeaRow 146 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Pettiti (Ita) Team IdeaRow 147 - Cell 2
DNFGiovanni Carboni (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 148 - Cell 2
DNFCharly Petelin (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 149 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Tecchio (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 150 - Cell 2
DNFSilvio Giorni (Ita) Area Zero Pro TeamRow 151 - Cell 2
DNFDaniele Aldegheri (Ita) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 152 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Busato (Ita) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 153 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Chirico (Ita) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 154 - Cell 2
DNFRicardo Tomas Creel (USA) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 155 - Cell 2
DNFLorenzo Di Remigio (Ita) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 156 - Cell 2
DNFLorenzo Rota (Ita) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 157 - Cell 2
DNFGianluca Vecchio (Ita) MG Kvis - TrevigianiRow 158 - Cell 2
DNFEmiliano Faieta (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 159 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Ciccanti (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 160 - Cell 2
DNFSante Di Nizio (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 161 - Cell 2
DNFNicola Gaffurini (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 162 - Cell 2
DNFMoreno Giampaolo (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 163 - Cell 2
DNFGianni Franco D'intino (Ita) Vega - HotsandRow 164 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo Baggio (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 165 - Cell 2
DNFAlfredo Balloni (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 166 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Belli (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 167 - Cell 2
DNFNicola Dal Santo (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 168 - Cell 2
DNFGiacomo Forconi (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 169 - Cell 2
DNFAntonio Merolese (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 170 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Taschin (Ita) Nankang-FondriestRow 171 - Cell 2
DNFRaffaello Bonusi (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 172 - Cell 2
DNFPaolo Lunardon (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 173 - Cell 2
DNFMiloš Borisavljevic (Srb) Marchiol EmisferoRow 174 - Cell 2
DNFAntonio Nibali (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 175 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Vendrame (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 176 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Zanardini (Ita) Marchiol EmisferoRow 177 - Cell 2
DNSGiacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory RacingRow 178 - Cell 2
DNSMatteo Spreafico (Ita) Team IdeaRow 179 - Cell 2

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.

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