Battaglin sprints to Sabatini win

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Enrico Battaglin (Colnago CSF-Inox) took victory at the Coppa Sabatini on Thursday with a powerful sprint finish in Peccioli. Still a month shy of his 22nd birthday, the trainee delivered an assured display to see off the challenge of Davide Rebellin (Miche-Guerciotti) and Dani Moreno (Katusha) to take his first win in the professional ranks.

In a large group finish, it was Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli) who made his move first, but the Italian champion launched his sprint from too far out, and was powerless as Battaglin swept past him.

Ultimately, Battaglin’s greatest challenge came from a man 19 years his senior, as Rebellin picked his way through the bodies behind to come home in second place. The veteran has enjoyed a rich vein of form on the domestic calendar since returning from a two-year suspension for CERA use earlier this summer.

After the finish, Battalgin’s directeur sportif Bruno Reverberi explained that he had instructed his young charge to shadow Giovanni Visconti in the finale. “It was a finish that was suited to him, we told him to stay calm until the line and to mark Visconti closely,” he said. “Winning with a trainee is a great satisfaction: Battaglin’s win will have surprised everyone a little, but not us, because we know his quality.”

Visconti ultimately finished fourth, and confessed that he had shown his hand too soon and then erred in tracking a move by Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) on the final lap.

“I wanted to force it myself on the second last lap, and in the finale I replied to Pozzato’s forcing. But then in the final metres, I didn’t have the legs,” Visconti admitted.

The early stages of the race were dominated by a break composed of Rafa Chtioui (Acqua e Sapone), Alessandro Brambilla (Colnago) and Davide Torosantucci (D'Angelo & Antenucci Nippo).

When they were swept up, Rigoberto Uran (Sky) made a solo break for victory on the finishing circuit, but the Colombian was left red-faced when he mistakenly raised his arms in celebration with a lap still to race. He was caught shortly afterwards, and in spite of some determined pressing from Pozzato, it all came down to a group finish, where Battaglin emerged to deny Rebellin the win.

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