Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) won the final stage of the Giro di Sicilia, gaining enough time on Kiwi Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) to snatch overall victory.
Lutsenko attacked on the final climb on the slopes of Mount Etna and then dived down the twisting road to victory in Giarre on the coast between Catania and Taormina.
Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) jumped away alone in pursuit of Lutsenko on the descent but finished 40 seconds behind the 30-year-old Kazakhstani rider. Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) won the sprint for third place at 1:13 and so moved up to third overall thanks to a final time four-second bonus.
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Fisher-Black finished eighth at 1:15, at the back of the chase group, disappointed to have slipped from race leader to fourth overall at 1:07.
Lutsenko won the Giro di Sicilia by 44 seconds, with Meintjes taking second overall and Albanese third at 1:07 seconds.
Lutsenko secured his first win since February 2022 and gave Astana Qazaqstan two precious victories after a dire start to 2023. The team’s only other win came in February when Simone Velasco won stage 3 at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
“I’m super happy to win, the team worked really well to set me up,” Lutsenko said. “Winning a stage at the Giro di Sicilia is like winning a stage at the Tour de France. I’m happy.
“Today is an important moment for me and for the team. The Giro di Sicilia is a good test before the Ardennes Classics. Our tactics were all about the last hard climb, that’s where I wanted to attack and I did.”
How it unfolded
The fourth and final stage of the Giro di Sicilia was the longest of the race, covering 213km from Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto on the northern coast and climbing high on the slopes of the Mount Etna volcano. The other stages had criss-crossed Sicily on rolling roads but stage 4 was a real mountain stage.
The USA’s Joey Rosskopf (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Alessandro Tonelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) launched the first attack but were chased down as riders out of overall contention fought for a final moment of glory and the hope of getting in the break that was allowed to fight for the stage victory.
After 40km of fast racing, Samuele Zoccarato (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Alexis Guerin (Bingoal WB), Erik Fetter (Eolo-Kometa), Bart Lemmen (Human Powered Health), Luc Wirtgen (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Negasi Abreha (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Martin Marcellusi (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) got away and were allowed to open a 4-minute gap.
However, Astana Qazaqstan led the chase for Lutsenko and Bahrain Victorious helped them on the long haul up the Floresta climb after 91km.
On the higher climb of Etna-Due Monti, up to 1,627 metres on the black barren slopes of the active volcano, the break began to fall apart and Zoccarato and Guerin went clear.
The rest of the break was swept up as a strong 40-rider group emerged on the long climb but Zoccarato and Guerin went over the summit with a lead of 1:20.
The descent to the coast saw a select group emerge before the final, decisive climb to Culmine di Scorciavacca. In there were race leader Fisher-Black, Albanese, Lutsenko, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), George Bennett (UAE Team Emirates), Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Matteo Badilatti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Tsgabu Grmay (Team Jayco-AlUla), Sébastien Reichenbach (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Gianmarco Garofoli (Astana Qazaqstan).
Fisher-Black had struggled on the twisting descent from Mount Etna but had George Bennett, Diego Ulissi and Rafał Majka to help him protect his lead on the final climb. However, the attacks came thick and fast as other riders tried to win the stage.
Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) moved first and caught the riders out front. He was joined by Albanese, Lutsenko, Garofoli, Caruso and Petilli. Bennett and Ulissi lead the chase but started the climb at 35 seconds, knowing they faced a tough task.
Garofoli worked hard for Lutsenko by driving the attack up the climb, as Bennett and then Majka worked for Fisher-Black. They closed the gap to just 25 seconds at one point but then Caruso surged away and then Lutsenko made his move, three kilometres from the summit and a 18km descent from the finish.
Goossens was the last to crack and then Meintjes took off in pursuit. However on the testing descent the gaps stayed the same, as Majka gave his all for Fisher-Black, but was unable to stop Lutsenko from defending a winning margin that gave him a solo stage victory and overall success.
Results
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