Colbrelli wins Gran Piemonte
Senechal second, Ballerini third in Italian semi-classic sprint
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) won a rain-soaked edition of Gran Piemonte on Thursday, taking a well-executed victory on a messy run to the line in Stupinigi.
The Italian, who won the Coppa Bernocchi last month along with finishing runner-up at the GP de Montreal and Coppa Sabatini, was the favourite for the victory on the largely flat course, though the weather conditions would always complicate matters in a race that has seen late attackers spring surprises on the peloton in recent years.
Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) rolled the dice in the final couple of kilometres and although he didn’t succeed in holding onto his advantage, the bunch duly split on the approach to the line. Colbrelli was alert and found himself up front with a teammate and, sensing hesitation from those around him, opened up his sprint from range.
He quickly opened up a big gap and the victory was in the bag, with Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Floors) finishing second and Davide Ballerini (Androni) taking the final spot on the podium.
"With 350m to go, I decided to go for it. That's my style, and I just said, 'if they pass me, they pass me'," said Colbrelli.
"I'm very happy to end this season with a victory. It was very dangerous, there were crashes, but when it's wet, it’s always like that."
The long-running Italian one-day race was back in its usual slot this year after being packaged up as part of the Italian national championships last year on an altogether hillier affair won by Fabio Aru.
Despite the flatter nature of the parcours, the likes of Jan Bakelants and Rigoberto Uran had upset the sprinters in the previous couple of editions. Even when it has ended in a sprint, it has rarely been clean, full-peloton affair. The weather only added to the list of complications as the rain fell all day in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, leaving the peloton heavily reduced as it approached the finish.
A breakaway formed in the opening kilometres, with Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing Team), Mikkel Frolich Honoré (Quick-Step Floors), Matteo Sobrero (Dimension Data) and Filippo Ganna (UAE Team Emirates) opening up a lead of a few minutes before being kept on a relatively tight leash.
That was cause for Lotto Soudal to execute what was almost a full-team attack as Keukeleire, Tim Wellens, Tiesj Benoot, Thomas De Gendt, and Maxime Monfort all went clear from the bunch. With Cyrus Monk (EF-Drapac) and Nikita Stalnov (Astana) tagging on, they made their way across to the breakway to make it a group of 11 out front.
At that point, the gap was small, and there was an inevitable reaction in the peloton, and the race all came back together with 68km to go. Matti Breschel (EF-Drapac) and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates) went on the move and were later joined by Davide Ballerini (Androni Sidermec) and Andriy Grivko (Astana). When Ballereini and Grivko crashed, and Marcato was held up, Breschel was forced into a solo effort.
With just under 50km to go, he had company once more as Grivko, refusing to give in, set off from the peloton once more. The partnership only lasted 8km, though, as Breschel couldn’t hold the pace and Grivko was left alone.
The Ukranian put up a brave fight and had a lead of a minute at one point, but the game was up with 13km to go as Bahrain-Merida and Bardiani-CSF took control of the peloton.
Julien Vermote (Dimension Data) had a tentative dig off the front in the closing kilometres but Keukeleire sparked real danger with his attack 1.5km out. Colbrelli was up near the front and had a teammate to help shut the gap, and a group of 10 entered the final 500 metres to contest the victory.
Colbrelli could have waited, but he sensed an opportunity and boldly went from range. Senechal was looking over his other shoulder at the time and was left with the bitter taste of regret. "I'm happy," he said, "but I could have won that."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | 4:20:50 |
2 | Florian Senechal (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | |
3 | Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
4 | Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Katusha-Alpecin | |
5 | Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
6 | Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
7 | Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
8 | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
9 | Barnabás Peák (Hun) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:02 |
10 | Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia | |
11 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
12 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
13 | Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky | |
14 | Omer Goldshtein (Isr) Israel-Cycling Academy | |
15 | Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | |
16 | Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin | |
17 | Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
18 | Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
19 | Cyrus Monk (Aus) Drapac Ef P/B Cannondale Holistic Development Team | |
20 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data | |
21 | Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den) Team Waoo | |
22 | German Nicolas Tivani Perez (Arg) Trevigiani Phonix - Hemus 1896 | |
23 | José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
24 | Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia | |
25 | Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Dimension Data | |
26 | Evgeny Kobernyak (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | |
27 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel-Cycling Academy | |
28 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin | |
29 | Roman Maikin (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | |
30 | Michael Bresciani (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
31 | Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | 0:00:12 |
32 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:00:14 |
33 | James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:16 |
34 | Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:17 |
35 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team | |
36 | Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky | |
37 | Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:27 |
38 | Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:00:32 |
39 | Freddy Ovett (Aus) Australian Cycling Academy - Ride Sunshine Coast | |
40 | Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
41 | Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
42 | Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
43 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
44 | Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
45 | Alexander Evans (Aus) Mobius Bridgelane | |
46 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
47 | Vladislav Kulikov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | |
48 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | |
49 | Andrea Garosio (Ita) D'amico Utensilnord | |
50 | Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
51 | Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | |
52 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky | |
53 | Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | |
54 | Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky | |
55 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
56 | Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | |
57 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:37 |
58 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:39 |
59 | Guy Niv (Isr) Israel-Cycling Academy | |
60 | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
61 | José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin | |
62 | Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
63 | Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
64 | Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
65 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
66 | Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
67 | Winner Andrew Anacona (Col) Movistar Team | |
68 | Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
69 | Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
70 | Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | 0:00:44 |
71 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data | |
72 | Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
73 | Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
74 | Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team | |
75 | Awet Andemeskel (Eri) Israel-Cycling Academy | |
76 | Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:48 |
77 | Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team | |
78 | Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia | |
79 | Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:01:03 |
80 | Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:01:35 |
81 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:01:45 |
82 | Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Movistar Team | |
83 | Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | 0:01:50 |
84 | Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:02:06 |
85 | Maxim Pirard (Bel) Bahrain-Merida | 0:03:11 |
DNS | Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNS | Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | |
DNS | Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia | |
DNF | Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo | |
DNF | Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Israel-Cycling Academy | |
DNF | Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel-Cycling Academy | |
DNF | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | |
DNF | Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | |
DNF | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | |
DNF | Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | |
DNF | Marco Tizza (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini | |
DNF | Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Floors | |
DNF | Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
DNF | José Fernandes Neves (Por) W52/Fc Porto | |
DNF | Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Robert Kišerlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Simon Špilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Sky | |
DNF | David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) Team Sky | |
DNF | Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia | |
DNF | Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia | |
DNF | Nicholas Rinaldi (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia |
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