Cavendish sprints to victory at Milano-Torino

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Mark Cavendish made history at Milano-Torino, finishing off the work of the QuickStep-AlphaVinyl lead-out train to claim the first victory by a British rider in 103 editions of the oldest race of the calendar.

The 36-year-old was unrivalled in the dash for the line at the end of 199 kilometres of racing. Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) surged before fading to third, while just behind it was Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) who squeezed through against the barriers into second place.

It was another tremendous outing for the QuickStep train at the culmination of the flat race in Rivoli, with Michael Mørkøv delivering Cavendish to his final destination at 150 metres to go. By that point, as he hit the front, the Manxman's sprint rivals were already a step behind, as Kristoff went left and Bouhanni just managed to make his way between Mørkøv and the barriers.

The Frenchman had Cavendish in front, though, and Kristoff just didn't have enough finishing speed to compete. Further back, Max Kanter (Movistar) and Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) came quickly from less amenable starting positions to take fourth and fifth, but the day was all about QuickStep and Cavendish, who took win number 159 of his career.

"Really happy. Back with Mørkøv again. Just dialled you know, with this team." Cavendish explained after the finish. "For a one day race you have to be dialled because there's only one opportunity.

"They sent most of the sprint team with Fabio all year, and they've sent a solid base of a sprint team for me here. And like you've seen it's just incredible. I'm super happy. It's the first time I've raced MiTo and I'm happy, I'm so happy.

"I just like winning races, it doesn’t matter. I've already won Milan-San Remo and now I can say I've won Milano-Torino as well. It's obviously usually a hilly race, so to see my name next to the riders who have won this race in history is going to be quite special, I think."

How it unfolded

For its 103rd edition, the oldest Classic on the calendar returned to its roots with a move back to the spring and with it a switch in parcours, dispensing with the Superga climb in Turin and instead bringing in a flat course suited to the sprinters.

The race, first run in 1876 would see the peloton tackle 199 kilometres from Magenta, west of Milan, to Rivoli, just west of Turin. With a high point of 426 metres, the day would be well-suited to the sprint squads, a far cry from the twin peaks of Superga that usually concludes the race.

A fast pace at the start of the day meant it was a hard battle for the breakaway, with Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech) and Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) among those going on the offensive early on.

The pair didn't make it out, though, and it would eventually take over 20 kilometres for the break of the day to form. Three Italian ProTeams would make the move, with Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Juan Diego Alba (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), and Daniel Viegas (Eolo-Kometa) filled out the breakaway group.

The trio were quickly allowed to build a gap of over four minutes as the likes of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, Team DSM, and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl worked at the head of the peloton on behalf of sprinters Alexander Kristoff, Alberto Dainese, and Mark Cavendish.

By the mid-point of the day, that advantage had been cut to just over two minutes as the sprinters' teams sought to control the situation, with Arkéa-Samsic (for Nacer Bouhanni) and Trek-Segafredo (for Matteo Moschetti) also contributing to the work.

Very few obstacles lay on the course as the riders crossed the Po Valley and several tributaries of Italy's longest river, and as such, there was little drama through the day as the peloton and break rode along in sync, awaiting the inevitable catch ahead of the finale

That catch came at 20 kilometres to go with Intermarché, DSM, QuickStep, and TotalEnergies (for Peter Sagan) pulled the peloton. Three kilometres later, EF Education-EasyPost, with no real sprinter in their squad, put in a mini move with Alberto Bettiol and Irish neo-pro Ben Healy.

The pair nipped off the front as the race circled around to the west of Turin, through the towns of Drubiaglio and Avigliana. Bettiol, who was making his return from COVID-19, peeled off at 15 to go to leave Healy to a solo move 15 seconds off the front of the peloton.

Healy, who last month was in the breakaway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, put in a valiant effort as he toiled on alone out front. The Irishman impressed with his effort as QuickStep and Arkéa led the chase, but a stint on the front from French champion Rémi Cavagna put an end to his escape with just 4.3 kilometres to run.

Arkéa, TotalEnergies, Movistar, Astana Qazaqstan, and Ineos Grenadiers would all flow to the front over the closing kilometres. At two kilometres to go it was Fabio Felline (Astana Qazaqstan) and Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) leading the way, though both teams would be absent in the final dash for the line.

QuickStep and TotalEnergies were back for the final 1.5 kilometres, with the Belgian team eventually wresting control when it mattered and delivering yet another pinpoint lead out to score the 12th win of 2022.