Colbrelli sprints to Italian men's road title
Bahrain Victorious sprinter continues good form with another victory
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) won the Italian road race championships in a two-man sprint against Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in Imola.
Colbrelli managed to bridge across to Masnada 28km from the finish, after Masnada had attacked the peloton 7km earlier.
Between them, Colbrelli and Masnada caught and dropped all of the riders who had formed the day’s break, with Samuele Zoccarato (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) taking third place as the last rider to survive from it.
The finishing sprint was no contest, as Colbrelli used his superior kick to defeat Masnada comfortably.
Given Colbrelli’s recent run of form, the victory certainly does not come as a surprise. The Bahrain-Victorious rider has been on a hot streak in recent months, sprinting well and consistently to claim a stage each at the Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine, as well as the points classification at both races.
But the manner of the victory isn’t quite as we would have expected. Rather than wait for a sprint, Colbrelli went out on the attack, alert to the danger posed by Fausto Masnada’s attack.
Masnada made his move during a calm period of the race 35km from the finish, after a selection had been formed in the peloton that had whittled the race down to just the select favourites, inclduding Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) and Domenci Pozzovivo (Qhubeka Assos).
Masnada gained a large advantage, and rather than try to continue working with the other riders in the peloton to bring him back, Colbrelli set off in solo pursuit.
Colbrelli caught up to Masnada just as he reached the survivors of the day’s sizable breakaway, which had been reduced from thirteen to five riders following the work of Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, who made up three of the remaining five.
Of those five, Zoccarato was the only rider able to hang on as Masnada and Colbrelli pushed on over the climb in the finishing circuit.
He battled valiantly, and still kept the leaders in sight even after he was dropped 14km from the finish, but was eventually taken out of contention for good.
By now Masnada and Colbrelli had a comfortable lead over the rest of the peloton, who had continued to cede time having already found themselves almost one minute adrift by the time the pair joined up together.
Despite not having to worry about being caught by the peloton, and having a mch inferior sprint to Colbrelli, Masnada did not try an attack or gamesmanship in the finale. Instead, he chose to start his sprint early, but had no response when Colbrelli came past his wheel and stormed to victory.
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious | 5:29:24 |
2 | Fausto Masnada (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:02 |
3 | Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | 0:00:37 |
4 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:02:30 |
5 | Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange | |
6 | Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
7 | Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma | 0:02:31 |
8 | Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
9 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
10 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos | |
11 | Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
12 | Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:02:37 |
13 | Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | 0:04:07 |
14 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:05:41 |
15 | Manuele Tarozzi (Ita) | 0:05:42 |
16 | Matteo Baseggio (Ita) General Store-f.lli Curia-Essegibi | 0:08:18 |
17 | Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | 0:09:33 |
18 | Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | 0:09:39 |
19 | Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
20 | Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo | |
21 | Giacomo Garavaglia (Ita) IWD | |
22 | Stefano Gandin (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior | |
23 | Filippo Tagliani (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
24 | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Amore e Vita | |
25 | Davide Rebellin (Ita) Work Service-Marchiol-Dynatek | 0:09:40 |
26 | Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
27 | Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
28 | Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
29 | Riccardo Verza (Ita) Zalf Euromobil Fior | |
30 | Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
31 | Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
32 | Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo | |
33 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
34 | Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
35 | Mattia Bais (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | 0:09:41 |
36 | Michele Corradini (Ita) | |
37 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
38 | Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
39 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix | |
40 | Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo | |
41 | Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
42 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
43 | Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
44 | Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
45 | Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
46 | Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | 0:09:42 |
47 | Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal | |
48 | Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
49 | Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
50 | Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | |
51 | Raffaele Radice (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM | |
52 | Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
53 | Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
54 | Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
55 | Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
56 | Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:09:43 |
57 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | |
58 | Marco Tizza (Ita) Amore e Vita | 0:09:44 |
59 | Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
60 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious | |
61 | Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
62 | Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange | |
63 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech | 0:09:45 |
64 | Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
65 | Manuel Pesci (Ita) | |
66 | Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team | |
67 | Francesco Romano (Ita) | |
68 | Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM | 0:13:15 |
69 | Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech | |
70 | Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:13:16 |
DNF | Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos | |
DNF | Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
DNF | Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
DNF | Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
DNF | Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | |
DNF | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
DNF | Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
DNF | Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech | |
DNF | Leonardo Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie | |
DNF | Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie | |
DNF | Davide Botta (Ita) | |
DNF | Federico Burchio (Ita) IWD | |
DNF | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious | |
DNF | Andrea Colnaghi (Ita) | |
DNF | Nicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
DNF | Stefano Di Benedetto (Ita) IWD | |
DNF | Francesco Di Felice (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM | |
DNF | Andrea Di Renzo (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
DNF | Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko | |
DNF | Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
DNF | Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
DNF | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
DNF | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ | |
DNF | Alessandro Iacchi (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
DNF | Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
DNF | Ignazio Longo (Ita) | |
DNF | Riccardo Lucca (Ita) General Store-f.lli Curia-Essegibi | |
DNF | Leonardo Marchiori (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Umberto Marengo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
DNF | Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech | |
DNF | Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious | |
DNF | Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | |
DNF | Sacha Modolo (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix | |
DNF | Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
DNF | Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
DNF | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos | |
DNF | Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Luca Pacioni (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
DNF | Nicola Parenti (Ita) | |
DNF | Giuseppe Pellegrino (Ita) | |
DNF | Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos | |
DNF | Simone Piccolo (Ita) | |
DNF | Samuele Rivi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team | |
DNF | Cristian Rocchetta (Ita) General Store-f.lli Curia-Essegibi | |
DNF | Niccolo' Salvietti (Ita) Mg.k Vis VPM | |
DNF | Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
DNF | Daniel Smarzaro (Ita) D'Amico um Tools | |
DNF | Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech | |
DNF | Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini Zabu' Brado KTM | |
DNF | Riccardo Tosin (Ita) General Store-f.lli Curia-Essegibi | |
DNF | Tomas Trainini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
DNF | Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Nicola Venchiarutti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis | |
DNF | Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' | |
DNF | Francesco Zandri (Ita) IWD | |
DNF | Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' |
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Stephen Puddicombe is a freelance writer based in Bristol. He has written for Cyclingnews since 2020, and has covered cycling professionally as a freelancer since 2013, writing for outlets such as Rouleur, Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport, among other publications. He is the author of The World of the Tour de France, published by Sona Books. Outside of cycling he is a passionate cinephile, and a long-suffering Spurs fan.
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