Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) was the favourite for the Italian Championships on home roads in Sesto Fiorentino, and the Tuscan duly lived up to his billing by dropping his breakaway companions on the final climb of Monte Morello with 9km to go.
From there, the result was never in any real doubt, as Bettiol cruised home to win by 17 seconds from Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty) and Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious).
Filippo Ganna (Ineos), who had led the chase behind the breakaway, had to settle for fourth place at 20 seconds, ahead of Davide Formolo (Movistar), Giovanni Aleotti (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek).
Bettiol was the lone EF rider in the field as his compatriot Andrea Piccolo was fired by the team late on Friday after it emerged that he had been stopped by Italian police on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone.
“I had a lot of friends in the bunch, but no teammates, so it was hard,” said Bettiol, who triggered the winning move with a little over two laps left to race.
Bettiol’s forcing there brough Rota, Zambanini, Marco Frigo (Israel-PremierTech) and Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) clear with him, with Ganna, Ciccone and Formolo the strongmen in the chasing group behind.
The leaders had half a minute in hand come the penultimate climb of Monte Morello, where Frigo dropped out of the break with cramp, while Bettiol tested the rest with a long stint on the front.
With a lap remaining, the break’s lead began to drop inside 20 seconds, but the final ascent of Monte Morello provided an obvious springboard for Bettiol. The 2019 Tour of Flanders winner controlled the break from the front on the climb, first burning off Zoccarato, and then dropping Rota and Zambanini with a smooth acceleration a kilometre or so from the summit.
Bettiol managed his advantage smartly thereafter, and he had ample time to savour his victory, dismounting and lifting his bike above his head after he crossed the line.
“I didn’t expect to go that strongly, because I’d had a complicated week as I fell in at the Tour de Suisse and it was hard to get back into my rhythm,” said Bettiol, who will now wear the tricolore when the Giro sets off from Florence next weekend.
Bettiol will hope these national championships are a foretaste of what is to come when the Tour de France sets out from Florence next weekend. Like the opening stage of the Tour, the race got under way from Piazzale Michelangelo above Florence. The event also doubled as this year’s edition of the Per Sempre Alfredo race, and it finished in Alfredo Martini’s hometown of Sesto Fiorentino. At the finish, Bettiol paid tribute to the late commissario tecnico.
“I saw Alfredo Martini’s family this morning, it’s special to win the race here and I hope I can wear this jersey with honour,” Bettiol said. “We started in Piazzale Michelangelo this morning, which made me look forward even more to next week.”
Bettiol will look to replicate this display during the Tour’s tough opening stanza in Italy next week, and he will also be the squadra azzurra’s main hope in the Paris 2024 Olympics road race. This was, in other words, only the start of a busy summer.
“I’m getting older and more mature, and I’m learning from errors,” Bettiol said of a season that has seen him win Milano-Torino and lead the Tour de Suisse for a day. “This is a big year, with the Olympics, the World Championships, these national championships in Florence and the Tour start in Italy.”
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