Durasek solos to victory in Tre Valli Varesine

Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) claimed victory in the Tre Valli Varesine after he out-sprinted Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Bardiani-Valvole) at the hilltop finish in Campione d’Italia.

The Croatian’s victory brought the curtain down on a hugely successful Trittico Lombardo for his Lampre-Merida team, which also took the spoils at the Coppa Agostoni through Filippo Pozzato and second place at the Coppa Bernocchi thanks to Roberto Ferrari.

“After the good sensations I had at the Coppa Agostoni, today I asked the team to believe in me. I was really determined and nothing fazed me,” Durasek said. “I have to thank Polanc and Pietropolli for guiding me perfectly to the foot of the final climb.”

After tributes were paid to recently retired Varese native Stefano Garzelli at the start, an eleven-man break featuring Emanuele Sella (Androni-Venezuela), Pavel Brutt (Katusha) and Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) powered clear in the opening kilometres and animated much of the afternoon.

It was the tough finale in Campione d’Italia that would prove decisive, and the combined forcing of Lampre and Bardiani-Valvolve ensured that a select peloton would contest the victory, with Bardiani’s Stefano Pirazzi particularly prominent in pegging back the break.

Leonardo Duque (Colombia) attempted to jump clear before the base of the final climb but he was reeled in by Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, but once the road began to climb in earnest, Bongiorno ripped clear of the bunch with two kilometres to go.

Only Durasek could follow Bongiorno’s tempo, and together the pair managed to hold off the determined pursuit of Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha), who was giving lone chase behind.

Durasek took over the pace-setting in the final kilometre and he had little trouble in following Bongiorno’s acceleration with 200 metres to go. The Croatian duly took out the sprint to take the win, while Bongiorno held off Kolobnev for second.

“I found myself in front on the climb that to Bongiorno’s good attack,” Durasek said. “From there, I managed my strength well in spite of the pressure from Kolobnev behind. In the finishing straight, I had the energy for one last sprint that gave me my first win for Lampre-Merida.”

Ivan Rovny came home in 4th place, ahead of Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat), Franco Pellizotti (Androni-Venezuela) and Fabio Aru (Astana). Aru’s teammate Simone Ponzi came home in 8th place, and that was enough to give him overall victory in the Trittico Lombardo, the trio of races that heralds the beginning of the Italian build-up to the world championships.

Ponzi, who finished 2nd in the Coppa Agostoni and 8th in the Coppa Bernocchi, was awarded a diamond worth €10,000 for his feat, while race organiser Renzo Oldani told Gazzetta dello Sport afterwards that the three Trittico Lombardo events may switch to a mid-September from 2014, so as to serve as better preparation for the Worlds.

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