Rebellin beats Pozzovivo at Tre Valli Varesine

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Davide Rebellin (Miche-Guerciotti) took his first victory since his return from suspension at the Tre Valli Varesine on Tuesday. The Italian, who tested positive for CERA at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, had too much for Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox) on the final climb to the line at Campione d’Italia.

The duo broke clear inside the final kilometre, just after a searing but short-lived acceleration from Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) shattered the leading group under the red kite. Ultimately, however, Nibali’s attack served only to eliminate his teammate Peter Sagan from contention and hand the initiative to Rebellin and Pozzovivo.

After Nibali’s effort fizzled out, the diminutive Pozzovivo took up the reins on the climb and sallied ahead with Rebellin in tow. In spite of the best efforts of Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) to make it across, the leading pair maintained their advantage into the final 300 metres, and it was here that the wily Rebellin sensed his opportunity.

The Italian turned 40 last week, but he carried his years lightly as he ripped past Pozzovivo and quickly opened out a sizeable gap to take an emphatic victory. Pozzovivo held on for second place, while young French talent Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) gave yet another glimpse of his arsenal of talent by zipping clear of Gasparotto to take third.

“When I was alone with Pozzovivo with 300 metres to go, I knew I could win,” Rebellin said afterwards. “It was a finish that suited me and I knew I was in good condition.”

Rebellin maintained that his victory justified his decision to return to the sport after his suspension. Considering the length of his lay-off, the veteran has been in remarkable form this summer, and he had come close to victory at both the Trofeo Matteotti and the GP Città di Camaiore in recent weeks.

“I came back because I knew I could still win big races, and hopefully I can still do more between now and the end of the season,” he said flatly.

Liquigas lose out

The big losers of the day were Liquigas-Cannondale, as their leaders failed to make the anticipated impact on the sharp uphill finish at Campione d’Italia, in spite of the team controlling the race for much of the day by placing Mauro Finetto in the early break with Pavel Brutt (Katusha).

When that pair was swallowed up in the final 30 kilometres, the lime green squad took over the pace-setting at the head of the peloton in support of the in-form Peter Sagan. Thanks largely to the efforts of Valerio Agnoli, they succeeded in distancing a number of favourites including Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) on the undulating run-in to the finish.

In the final 4km, as the road began to pitch up towards the line, Ivan Basso put in a selfless stint of work at the front of the leading group, with Sagan perched imperiously on his rear wheel. Basso succeeded in controlling attacks from Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Gianluca Brambilla (Colnago-CSF Inox) and entering the final kilometre, Sagan seemed well-placed to add to his ever-burgeoning palmares.

It was at that point that Nibali opted to make his solo effort, however, and Liquigas’ race fell apart when Sagan lost contact as the leading group scrambled to get on the Sicilian’s wheel. To compound matters, Nibali was unable to continue in his forcing, and instead Rebellin and Pozzovivo gratefully took advantage to carve up the spoils between them.