Roglic wins Giro dell'Emilia

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Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) bounced back from a disappointing World Championships with victory at the Giro dell'Emilia. The Slovenian attacked late on the final ascent of the San Luca climb in Bologna to solo across the line and take his 12th win of 2019.

Michael Woods (EF Education First) took second place, having tried his own attack in the final kilometre. The Canadian was joined by his teammate Sergio Higuita after being dropped by Roglič, with Higuita taking third at the finish. 

The victory is Roglič's first one-day race success and recalls his success at the same venue back in May when he won the opening time trial of the Giro d'Italia.

The Slovenian, who had seen teammates Sepp Kuss, George Bennett and Antwan Tolhoek go on the attack on the finishing circuits earlier on, kept his powder dry until the final kilometre of the race, chasing down Woods before pushing on alone to the line.

"Last time I was here I won and today again, so I like San Luca, for sure," said Roglič after the finish.

"If I'm alone in cycling, it's hard to do something but our guys were really amazing. Actually, I didn't feel really good, but I fight until the end for them and it's nice to be able to win again here.

"My next race will be in Varese (Tre Valli Varesine) and then I'll finish my season at Il Lombardia."

How it unfolded

The 91st edition of the 207km semi-classic started and ended in Bologna, with a loop around the city encompassing several climbs. The main obstacle of the day would be climb to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca in Bologna tough, with the steep double-digit slopes featuring five times – once for every lap of the finishing circuit.

A small group got away in the opening five kilometres without much resistance. Jacopo Mosca (Trek-Segafredo), Davide Ballerini (Astana) and Umberto Orsini (Bardiani-CSF) were the men to get away from the peloton, and by the race's halfway mark the trio had amassed a lead of 11 minutes.

It was a fairly uneventful race for much of the day, with the action only really hotting up on the finishing circuits. By the time the break got back to Bologna, they were just four minutes up on the peloton.

Almost immediately, Mosca pushed on alone, taking advantage of the steep slopes to distance his companions. Further back, Diego Rosa (Team Ineos) put in an attack, forcing other teams to chase as Jumbo-Visma took on the responsibility.

Mosca stood strong alone as the remaining breakaway riders were brought back by the peloton, while further back Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), George Bennett and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Tsgabu Grmay (Mitchelton-Scott) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education) all got across to Rosa with 30km to race.

They didn't last long though, thanks to the high pace behind blowing the peloton apart on the first ascent of San Luca. Ciccone hung on to attack, with Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) going with him.

Mosca was brought back the third time up San Luca, while Ciccone and Latour yo-yoed up front, maintaining a small gap. As the peloton neared the top, Tolhoek gave it a go, but quickly dropped back to help his team lead the way.

The lead duo had just 20 seconds on the peloton as they hit the penultimate climb of the day, with the peloton visible behind them but still some way off thanks to the steep slopes. With team leaders pushing the pace on the climb, it was all over for Ciccone and Latour as they crossed the line over the top.

More attacks came on the descent, as Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) and Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) jumped away, followed by the Colombian duo of Higuita and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott).

They pushed on at full pace heading into the final climb, but so did the peloton, and the quintet was duly caught 2km from the line. Further back, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) struggled and was dropped off the back.

Rosa reappeared once more to briefly set the pace up front but couldn't give much more before the attacks started. Woods was the first to go, jumping just before the flamme rouge and getting a small gap on the right-hand side of the road.

Then it was Roglič's turn. The Vuelta winner flew out of the favourites group without anyone able to answer his effort. Woods tried, and briefly managed to hold the wheel, but soon afterwards he was gone, too.

And that was that. Over the final 700 metres or so it never looked like Roglič was in trouble, and despite the teamwork between Woods and Higuita, he never was. It was another win for Roglič, another addition to his palmarès towards the end of his best year yet.

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