Uno-X Mobility's Sakarias Koller Løland sprinted to victory after a breathless edition of the Trofeo Matteotti.
On a day of relentless attacking, the sprint teams had moments to organise themselves for their fast-men. Løland was the fastest from a selective group, taking his second professional victory, following a win at the Veneto Classic last year.
Løland out-sprinted Ludovico Crescioli (Polti-VisitMalta) and Benoit Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) who rounded out the podium.
The early breakaway was reeled in with 90km to go on a day that was raced with intensity. In the second half of the race, the attacking was incessant, with several groups building small advantages before being caught again by the bunch.
Ukrainian Andrii Ponomar (General Store - Essegibi - F.Lli Curia) and Joris Delbove (TotalEnergies) led through the bell to signify the final lap of 13 around the city of Pescara, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG-led peloton reeling the pair in shortly after.
Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Crescioli and Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) were the next to form a move on the final rise. However, they were caught with 3km left, swinging the race in the favour of the faster finishers.
Løland made the best of a chaotic finale, launching his sprint first on the left side of the road and holding on to win by a bike length as the others came back at him.
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Dan is a freelance cycling journalist who has written for Cyclingnews since 2023 alongside other work with Cycling Weekly, Rouleur and Escape Collective. Dan focuses much of his work on professional cycling beyond its traditional European heartlands and writes a regular Substack called Global Peloton.
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