Andrea Pasqualon wins 2017 Coppa Sabatini

Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) claimed the biggest win of his career when he sprinted to victory in the Coppa Sabatini, beating Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) into second place in the uphill group sprint in Peccioli.

The result was a reverse of the outcome of the 2016 edition of the race, when Colbrelli pipped Pasqualon to the win on the same finale in Tuscany. Colbrelli was chasing his third Coppa Sabatini win in four years, and he opened his sprint from distance, but was overhauled by Pasqualon in the closing metres.

Colbrelli appealed the result immediately after the stage, claiming that Pasqualon had deviated from his line, but the commissaires promptly confirmed that that the Wanty-Groupe Gobert man was the winner.

Francesco Gavazzi (Androni-Sidermec) took third place in the bunch finish, ahead of Diego Ulissi (UAE-Team Emirates) and Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

Pasqualon had racked up a series of placings at the Coppa Sabatini in recent years and was determined to win this year, telling his teammates before the race that he would open up the sprint after the last sweeping corner.

"I know the finish after being beaten in recent years and this time I had the courage to go for it. I didn't have that courage in the pat but this year I'm a lot stronger and more confident in what I can do in the finale of races. Changing teams and riding the Tour de France has made a huge difference. I can feel I'm stronger and have more endurance," Pasqualon said.

"Colbrelli led out the sprint but I came off his wheel quickly so that I could chose my own line. That's what I did. He claimed I squeezed him against the barriers but I don't think I did anything wrong. My chain jumped with 150m to go and I moved a bit but I didn't change my line to stop him coming through. I think I deserved this win."

Pasqualon revealed he had decided to put off signing a new contract until after the races in Tuscany because he was convinced he get a result. He revealed he has several offers but is "90 per cent" sure to stay at Wanty-Groupe Gobert in 2018.

The race was animated by an early break featuring Eugert Zhupa (Wilier-Selle Italia), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF), Andrea Vendrame (Androni), Patrick Gamper (Tirol Cycling), Daniel Turek (Israel Cycling Academy), Oscar Pelegri (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Hideto Nakane (Nippo-Vini Fantini).

The seven escapees built a maximum lead just shy of six minutes before UAE-Team Emirates and Bahrain-Merida began to police affairs at the head of the peloton around the midway point.

By the time the break reached the six laps of the 12-kilometre finishing circuit around Peccioli, the gap was down just over two minutes, though attempts from counter-attackers Jacopo Mosca (Wilier-Selle Italia) and Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Sangemini–MG.K Vis) to bridge across on the finishing circuit in Peccioli proved unsuccessful.

With two laps of the finishing circuit left, the break's buffer had been thinned down to just over a minute, and the move would splinter by the final lap, where only Vendrame and Tonelli remained just ahead of the closing peloton.

Vendrame and Tonelli were eventually swept up with seven kilometres to go, as Bahrain-Merida continued their forcing on behalf of Colbrelli, though Team Sky and Wanty-Groupe Gobert were increasingly prominent on the approach to final haul towards Peccioli, with Elia Viviani and Pasqualon in mind.

In the keenly-contested finishing sprint, it was Pasqualon who emerged victorious to claim his first win of 2017 and the biggest victory of a career that began in 2011 in the colours of Colnago-CSF.

The 29-year-old later spent three seasons at Continental level before stepping up again this season with Wanty-Groupe Gobert. Pasqualon was among the nine race debutants Wanty named for the Tour de France, reaching Paris in 137th overall.

Pasqualon's victory was Wanty-Groupe Gobert's third in two days in Tuscany after his teammate Guillaume Martin won stage 2 and the final overall title at the Giro della Toscana in Volterra on Wednesday.

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