Colbrelli wins GP di Prato

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Sonny Colbrelli took his second win in as many days at the GP Industria & Commercio di Prato on Sunday in Italy. This time instead of racing with his trade team Bardiani-CSF, he was racing with the Italian national team, and he sprinted to the win ahead of Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka) and Danielo Napolitano (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

“I’m really happy for this second success in-a-row,” said Colbrelli, who won the Memorial Marco Pantani on Saturday. “A win with the Italian jersey is always special.”

Colbrelli raced with his national team in preparation ahead of the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. “Thanks to Italian coach [Davide] Cassani, who called me up for the race, and my teammates, excluding [Edoardo] Zardini, it was the first time that we raced all together. Seeing riders like Nibali, Visconti and [Fabio] Aru working for me was a honour. I think today we showed a strong cohesion that will give us more confidence for the World Championships of next Sunday.”

The GP di Prato’s 186km race was held on two circuits. The first circuit included three climbs over the Carmignano ascent. The second circuit forced the riders to climb up the Rocca di Montemurlo six times.

A breakaway of 11 riders cleared the field with in the opening kilometers of the race. The Italian national team held the gap at a manageable distance and reeled them all in over the final lap. A small field of roughly 40 riders made it to the final sprint with Colbrelli taking the win.

Brief Results