Hosking wins Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli Donne

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Chloe Hosking (Wiggle High5) won the bunch sprint at the first Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli International Women Elite on Sunday. The Australia won the sprint ahead of Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv) and Barbara Guarischi (Canyon-SRAM).

“It was a really nice race actually,” Hosking said. “It was a 13km circuit with a little bit of a climb in it, and then a technical descent. We went in with a really open tactic. We obviously had Emma [Johansson] and Elisa [Longo Borghini] here who are really strong on the climb, so we didn’t want to make them wait for the sprinters.

“I just wanted to practise my sprint, obviously, leading into the Worlds. I went for both the intermediate sprints, and took out the first one and picked up third in the second. So that gave me the sprinters’ classification.”

The field of 127 athletes started the women's 79.8km race that started and finished in Monteveglio. The day's circuit included a 1.6km climb that the peloton took on six times.

There were many attacks throughout the race but the peloton stayed together until Sarah Roy (Australia) made a solo move on the third last lap. Roy, Lotta Lepisto (Cervelo Bigla) and Malgorzta Jasinska (Ale Cipollini) were caught in the closing kilometres, as the sprinters' teams set up for the final kick.

“Leading into the finish I got a bit distanced on the climb, but was able to come back,” Hosking explained. “Gio [Giorgia Bronzini] and Elisa helped put me in a really good position for the finish, and I was able to come over Vos after she started the sprint with about 200 to go. I felt really good, so obviously it’s a huge confidence boost, now three weeks out from Doha.

“I just realised that it’s a bookend for me: I won my first race with Wiggle in 2015, and now I’ve won my last race with Wiggle High5 in 2016, so it’s quite fitting," said Hosking, who signed with Ale Cipollini for next season.

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