Gavazzi wins Giro della Toscana

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Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Venezuela) won the Giro della Toscana after he out-sprinted Ivan Rovny (Ceramica-Flaminia) and Taylor Phinney (BMC) in Arezzo. It was the Italian’s second victory of the 2013 campaign after he won the final stage of the Tour de San Luis in January. 

The undulating race was run off at an average speed in excess of 42.5kph with nobody succeeding in breaking clear of the sizable front group on the finishing circuit and it all came down to a bunch finish.

Taylor Phinney opened his effort from distance after shutting down a late attack, but although he forced Gavazzi to open his sprint earlier than he had planned, the Androni-Venezuela man had enough in the tank to grab the win.

“Giairo Ermeti was my last man and his lead-out was anticipated so I was forced to go for a long sprint,” Gavazzi said. “But I’m feeling good and I’m hanging on well on the climbs too. At the Giro d’Italia, I want to win a stage and get to the finish in Brescia.”

For his part, Phinney was able to draw positives from his performances on the exacting course just one week shy of the Giro d’Italia. “I closed a bit of a gap to a guy who went early, with about 300 meters to go. I came around him with about 100 meters to go, but unfortunately, I didn't quite have enough gas to hold off Gavazzi and Rovny,” he said. “It's a really nice feeling to be back at the front of a race like that, though, especially since it was full gas all day, up and down."

Danilo Di Luca finished 6th in his second race with Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, for whom he signed last week after sitting out the early part of the season. Di Luca, who served a suspension for a positive test for CERA in 2009 is set to line up at the Giro d’Italia.