Nizzolo takes Italian national road race title

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Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) won the road race title at the Italian Championships on Sunday and will wear the prestigious tricolour jersey for a season. He won the race ahead of Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep) and Filippo Pozzato (Wilier Triestina-Southeast).

"Today the race was crazy, I had a lot of friends here cheering for me," Nizzolo said in a team press release. "I have to give a big thanks to the guys, they did a super job for me today. At the beginning I didn't feel good, but at the end I was really motivated on the final climb."

The men raced 228km that ended with four laps of a 20km circuit. The lap included a short, steep climb (300m and 17%) three kilometre from the finish.

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Nizzolo's teammates led him into the foot of the last uphill where he was the first to attack, followed by Oscar Gatto (Tinkoff). The move resulted in a selection of five riders at the top.

Brambilla  attacked on the descent, and only Nizzolo was able to make the bridge; the two riders arrived to the finish to play a tactical two-up sprint that Nizzolo won, leaving Brambilla in second.

"Marco (Coledan) made a very strong pull into the the last climb and stretched out the peloton and I attacked the climb," Nizzolo said. "We were five at the top of the hill and then Brambilla attacked on the downhill and had a gap.

"I went across to him and we were two, and I pulled until the final kilometer. It was then that I realized this could be the right day. Then in the sprint, I won. It is really, really, really an important race for me and I will enjoy the next days and the next year."

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