Meurisse wins Giro del Veneto

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Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Fenix) beat Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) in a close sprint to win the revived Giro del Veneto one-day race in northern Italy.

Trentin hit out early in the sprint after riding aggressively in the final kilometres but Meurisse managed to beat him at the line in the centre of Padova as the peloton almost caught the attackers in a thrilling finale.

Alberto Dainese, riding for the Italian national team, snatched third place from Jhonatan Restrepo (Androni Giocattoli) who was also in the three-rider attack. Restrepo finished seventh as he was caught by a number of sprinters on the line.  

The Giro del Veneto is the first of three races organised by former rider Filippo Pozzato with support from several Italian brands and the Veneto region. The Serenissima Gravel race will be held on Thursday, with the Veneto Classic on Sunday.

The 168km race covered a long loop through central Veneto, starting in Cittadella in the north, visiting Vicenza in the west and then climbing into the Colle Eugenio for the finale and ride to Padova.

The early break was caught on the series of late climbs and then UAE Team Emirates took turns to go on the attack. Marc Hirschi joined Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) in a dangerous attack with 30km to go but then slipped out during the descent.

The strongest riders came together after the steep Roccolo climb with 20km to go and the attacks started as teams tried to avoid a sprint finish. 

Local resident Dainese was a clear threat and was helped by his young Italian teammates. UAE Team Emirates had a number of riders in the front group of 20 and so launched several attacks. Trentin got away at his second attempt with five kilometres to go, with Meurisse and Restrepo joining him and their teammates closing down the chase behind. 

The trio managed to open a 10-second gap and held it into the streets of Padova. Trentin did much of the work as he tried to avoid being caught but that only played into Meurisse’s hands, who saved something for the finish.

Trentin was angry with his second place in Monday’s Coppa Agostoni but could only accept yet another podium spot. 

“I’m second again. I keep saying I only need to improve one spot to win but it’s happened again. Now I’ve only got one race left: the Veneto Classic on Sunday,” the Italian said.

“I think we executed the tactics perfectly, it was just a pity that Marc crashed on the downhill. We had me, Diego [Ulissi], Davide [Formolo] and Alessandro [Covi] and did what we had to do. But it was second again.”