Ulissi wins GP Camaiore

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Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) confirmed his status as one of Italy's best one-day racers and put his name firmly amongst the favourites for Saturday's Strade Bianche race with a victory the GP di Camaiore.

The 24-year-old Italian beat Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) and Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) after the four broke away on the final climb of the race in the hills overlooking the Tuscan coast.

They managed to hold off the peloton, lead by local team Neri Sottoli-YellowFluo on the fast descent to the finish, with Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani–CSF) winning the bunch sprint just two seconds behind Ulissi.

The Lampre-Merida rider hails from Cecina, just an hour south of Camaiore, and celebrated his second win of the season after taking a stage at the Santos Tour Down Under. He was also second in the GP di Lugano last weekend and seems to have found the consistency to match the talent he showed as a double Junior world road race champion.

Hoogerland in the breakaway

The GP di Camaiore has recently switched from a summer date to an early season slot and attracted 9 WorldTour teams before they headed inland to the Chianti hills for Strade Bianche on Saturday and then Tirreno-Adriatico further down the Tuscan coast.

The 168 riders from 22 different teams seemed happy to line up in the sun, with spring-like temperatures of 16C warming their legs.

After several attacks on the flat loops along the coast, the break of the day formed on the first of six climbs of Monte Pitoro (2.87km at 7%). Silvio Giorni (Area Zero Pro Team), Daniele Colli (Neri Sottoli - Yellow Fluo), Riccardo Donato (MG Kvis - Trevigiani) were quickly joined by Dutch national champion Johnny Hoogerland (Androni Giocattoli).

The peloton quickly let them gain seven minutes but then Team Sky and Astana leading the chase. The British team was hoping to set up Ben Swift for a possible sprint finish, while Francesco Gavazzi was the designated Astana team leader alongside Vincenzo Nibali.

The peloton pulled back a minute on each lap of the 23.9km hilly Monte Pitoro circuit. With two laps and two climbs to go, the gap was down to 2:30, with the sky blue Astana jerseys lining out the peloton.

Colli tried a solo attack on the penultimate climb and lead over the top with Hoogerland, as Donato and Giorni were dropped, but the gap was down to only 30 seconds. It opened again on the descent and flat valley road towards the coast as the peloton caught its breath but never reached a minute. As usual, the GP di Camaiore would be decided on the final assault of Monte Pitoro.

Nibali goes on the attack

Lampre-Merida took over at the head of the race before the final climb to protect Ulissi and quickly swept up Hoogerland and Colli.

Vincenzo Nibali had revealed to Cyclingnews before the start that he had endured several sleepless nights since becoming a father last week but he wanted to leave his mark on the race as he competed with his younger brother for the first time. Nibali attacked mid-way up Monte Pitoro, forcing the first selection. Nibali did not last long but his two surges sparked other attacks with Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) also aggressive.

The Colombian was joined by Ulissi with a kilometre to the summit and Montaguti and then Clarke also got across. They reached the summit with a lead of ten seconds and dived down the descent, with Neri Sottoli-YellowFluo in hot pursuit.

A tailwind helped the quartet as did a lack of conviction and power in the peloton behind. The gap touched 20 seconds with four kilometres to go and they were within sight at the final kilometre. However the gap was enough to avoid being caught and then Ulissi had the skill, speed and nerve to win the sprint and give the Lampre-Merida team its seventh success of 2014. He could easily add to that title in Saturday's Strade Bianche and Sunday's Roma Maxima.

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