Simon Clarke wins GP Industria & Artigianato

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Simon Clarke took his first win for the Cannondale team at the GP Industria & Artigianato in Larciano, Tuscany, after a strong team performance in the rain.

Cannondale had Ramunas Navardauskas in the early break of the day and he managed to stay clear until the final assault of the San Baronto climb that was covered four times. Clarke sensed that the race was coming back together and anticipated any attacks from local rider Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) and Andrea Fedi of Southeast, jumping across to Navardauskas. He then helped Clarke open a gap and then the Australian dived down the descent to win alone in Larciano.

Fedi and Visconti fought for second place but were disappointed to finish on the lower steps of the podium after finishing 33 seconds behind Clarke. Rigoberto Uran finished fourth in the same time as the two, Navardauskas fought to the finish to take sixth, while Davide Formolo was 13th, confirming Cannondale's strength in depth.

2014 winner Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) was 11th in the same time as Formolo, at 43 seconds.

"It's great to win my first race for Cannondale. I'm really motivated this year because it's a new state after four years at Orica. I love racing in Italy and know these roads because I raced for the ISD team (now Southeast) that is based here," Clarke said after enjoying his moment on the podium.

It was Clarke's fourth solo career win after also taking stages all three Grand Tours in team time trial with Orica-GreenEdge. He also spent a day in the leader's pink jersey at the 2015 Giro d'Italia after Orica-GreenEdge dominated the team time trial in San Remo, and finished second to new teammate Formolo on the stage of the Giro d'Italia to La Spezia.

"I wasn't expecting to win but we knew we had to give it everything after Navardauskas went in the break and worked so hard. When the chase group was closing own on him on the last climb, I decided to spark a surprise and jump across to him. We got together before the summit of San Baronto and then he helped me gain 25 seconds at the top. I dived down the descent and knew I had a great chance."

Clarke has recently spent 18 days training at altitude on Mount Teide with several of his Cannondale teammates to prepare for the spring races. He will be part of the Cannondale squad for Tirreno-Adriatico that starts on the Tuscan coast on Wednesday.

"Next up is Tirreno-Adriatico and were all motivated to do well," he said. "We spent a lot of time at altitude and that allowed us to work hard and get to know each other."

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