De Marchi wins Giro dell'Emilia

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Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing) won the 2018 Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday, attacking on the second of five ascents of the short but steep climb to Santuario della Madonna di San Luca before crossing the line alone almost 30 kilometres later.

"Today was a great day for me and I think this is maybe the best win of my career so far because stage races are totally different from a single-day race and I have never raced to win a single-day race," De Marchi said in a team press release.

Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) attacked from the main field on the final haul to the line and took second place, 10 seconds behind De Marchi, while Dylan Teuns made it two BMC riders on the podium.

The Giro dell'Emilia in Bologna kicked off the autumn races in Italy. The men raced under seasonably wet and colder conditions with arms and legs covered, signifying the nearing end of the 2018 season.

It was a 200km race in and around Bologna that finished back on the city's 9.3km circuit that included a climb over the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca, with gradients of 18 per cent and double hairpin turns called the Curva delle Orfanelle. The riders tackled the decisive climb five times, with the finish line at the top.

The peloton wrestled over the top of the opening climbs of the parcours; Mongardino, Passo Brasimone and Valico Ganzole in the first 80km of the race. The day's main breakaway included Alberto Bettiol (BMC), Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates), Robert Power (Michelton-Scott), Scott Davies (Dimension Data), Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo), Umberto Orsini (Bardiani-CSF), Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Viesturs Luksevics (Amore & Vita).

The men held onto an ever-slimming two minutes, and even though they reached the base of the first San Luca circuit climb together, it wasn't long before they split apart as the shadows of the main field loomed close behind.

Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) was the first to attack over the top of the punishing ascent. He chose his moment to go when his rivals' legs were burning, just after crossing the finish line for the first time. His efforts were short-lived, however, and he was caught along the circuit before the second time up the climb.

De Marchi made what would be the winning move on the second run up the ascent, though he surely didn't know it at the time. He made his way across to the three remaining breakaway riders; Power, Davies, and Bagioli. Mohoric attacked again, and he too worked his way across to the move.

A chase group formed after the efforts of Diego Rosa (Team Sky), followed by Danny Martinez (EF Education First-Drapac), Alexandre Geniez (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Alexandr Riabushenko (UAE Team Emirates).

Mohoric tried a third attack against De Marchi, and although he gained a small lead at first, he wasn't strong enough to completely get rid of the Italian. De Marchi fought back and punched passed the weaving Mohoric, and crested the top with a 27-second lead.

Mohoric faded, and Geniez wound up being the sole chaser.

Not willing to give up, Mohoric made a fourth advance, this time on the descent, regaining contact with Geniez, only to be dropped by the Frenchman within 10km to go. Both riders were ultimately reeled in by the reduced main field as they set up for the finale.

De Marchi pushed his lead out to 44 seconds over the last circuit and said he forced himself to stay focused. "It's a crazy feeling because only in that moment, when you are alone in front, does everything count. Once you have made the gap, and found the right move, it's just you out there so it's all about staying focused, maintaining a good pace and focusing every inch of the road. Everything counts and it's special because you can wait a long time, maybe all day, and then quickly you're laying it all out on the road."

A flurry of attacks came from the reduced main field at the bottom of the climb. Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) was the first go but De Marchi's BMC teammate Dylan Teuns was right on his wheel, causing a stalemate among the five or six-rider group.

Rigoberto Uran took advantage of the lull in the select bunch and launched his attack. Too late to close the gap to De Marchi, who crossed the line with the victory, the Colombian sprinted across the line for second place, letting the others duke it out for the last spot on the podium. It was a good day for BMC, which landed two riders on the podium as Teuns raced in for third.

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