Colbrelli wins SuisseGas Gran Premio Città di Lugano

Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF) won the UCI 1.HC SuisseGas Gran Premio Città di Lugano on Sunday. The Italian out-sprinted compatriots and Lampre-Merida teammates Diego Ulissi and Roberto Ferrari to take the win.

"This victory has been the culmination of a great performances by the entire Bardiani-CSF," Colbrelli said in a team press release. "We knew today was a very good chance to win and we were really motivated to take it. We rode with a winning strategy, everything was perfect even if the day was really hard with cold and rain.

"This victory is a big boost of confidence in view of the next important events of our calendars, such as Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo and then the Belgium campaign. We have the confirmation we’re on the right way and, most important, we can forget the not-positive 2015 season and just looking ahead."

The event was held under cold and wet weather conditions along the Lago di Lugano where 113 riders lined up to contest the 70-year-old race. The early breakaway included Serghei Tvetcov (Androni-Sidermec) and Artem Nych (Gazprom RusVelo), who broke away at the 16km mark and stayed away until 132km with a gap of roughly two minutes.

The next move included Ulissi, who was followed promptly by Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani-CSF), Damiano Cunego (Nippo Fantini), Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) and Omar Fraile (Dimension Data). With no organisation, the move was nearly reabsorbed into the small field with 22km to go but with one final climb, they managed to make it stick, even though the front group slightly reshuffled.

Bardiani-CSF’s Colbrelli joined the leaders, and followed another attack from Ulissi, which was the final move of the day over the last climb. That move included four other riders; Ferrari, Solomennikov, Pantano and Cungeo, but Colbrelli won the sprint to the line.

"People think I’m a sprinter, but it’s not my feeling," Colbrelli said. "During last years I grew a lot, I improved my resistance especially on the short climbs. This is why I attacked selecting the group - I didn’t want a sprint. The hardest moment of the race has been the final kilometer when the small group behind me, Ulissi and Pantano were really close to catching us. Ferrari was there and he’s really fast, I had only one choice - push hard until the finish."

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