Clément Champoussin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) beat Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) to win the Giro della Toscana after the two got away on the second testing climb of Monte Serra overlooking Pisa.
Champoussin and Storer went shoulder to shoulder in the sprint but the Frenchman won it with a bike throw.
Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) won the sprint for third place, 17 seconds down on Champoussin and Storer, leading in a small chase group that formed on Monte Serra.
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The 182.7km race covered several loops near Pisa and then climbed Monte Serra twice in the second half of the course. Monte Serra is famous as a testing climb for many Italian riders and clients of locally-based coaches Michele Bartoli and Luigi Cecchini, who coached Bjarne Riis, Jan Ullrich and others during the nineties.
EF Education–EasyPost and UAE Team Emirates took control of the race on the first climb of Monte Serra and closed the gap on the early break.
Sjoerd Bax, Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Jean Loup Fayolle (Arkea B&B Hotels), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Johan Esteban Chaves (EF Education–EasyPost), Emanuel Buchmann (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Jose Manuel Diaz (Burgos-BH), Julen Arriola (Caja Rural–RGA), Walter Calzoni, David De La Cruz (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Charles Paige (TDT Unibet) formed a chase group and caught the breakaway as they passed through the finish area.
On the second climb of Monte Serra, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-Easypost), Clément Champoussin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Antonio Pedrero, Javier Romo (Movistar), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Domenico Pozzovivo (VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè).
UAE Team Emirates missed the move and chased on the front of the peloton but Champoussin and Storer managed to extend their lead over the summit to 20 seconds.
The chase group swelled in numbers on the technical descent and flat road but Champoussin and Storer held off the chase on the flat 15 km to the finish in Pontedera, as the chasers squabbled.
Champoussin and Storer slowed and studied each other before the sprint but Champoussin proved to be slightly faster and won the duel to secure his first win of 2024 and some precious UCI banking points for Arkéa-B&B Hotels.
On Thursday many of the same riders will compete in the Coppa Sabatini race in Tuscany. Marc Hirschi won in 2023 and returns to the UAE Team Emirates line-up in search of another win.
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