Nibali wins Tre Valli Varesine
Astana show their collective strength before Il Lombardia
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) won the Tre Valli Varesine race with a solo attack on the final climb, just 24 hours after arriving in Europe from the World Championships in Richmond, USA.
Nibali celebrated with his arms in the air, finishing nine seconds ahead of Sergey Firsanov (RusVelo) who jumped away in sight of the finish to take second place. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) won the sprint for third ahead of Simone Ponzi (Southeast).
Nibali’s success makes him a logical favourite for Sunday’s Il Lombardia race, the final race of this year’s WorldTour.
"The guys did a great job today, especially Fabio Aru, without them I wouldn’t have won," Nibali said, revealing he arrived in Italy at lunchtime on Tuesday. "I was tired after the flight and because of the jet lag. I started and even thought of climbing off but I felt good and things worked out. I have to thank my teammates for this win.
"The only tactic I could use was to ensure the race didn’t end in a sprint. I managed to pull it off. I now want to do well at Lombardia and hope to recover quickly for Sunday."
Thanks to his victory Nibali also secured victory in the three-race Trittico Lombardia. He won the Coppa Bernocchi race and was second in the Coppa Agostoni race and so took home a special diamond prize awarded by the race organisers.
How it happened
The Tre Valli Varesine race covered a tough loop north of the city, between the lakes of the Varese area and the Swiss border before nine laps of a 12.9km finishing circuit in the hills that overlook the city. The final kliometres were similar to those of the 2008 World Championships when Alessandro Ballan won the rainbow jersey for Italy.
With both Nibali and Aru in its line-up, the Astana team was determined to take the win and carefully controlled the early 20-rider break of the day by placing Dario Cataldo in the move. The riders rode at 47.9 km/h in the first two hours but the peloton came back together as they began the nine finishing circuits. Other attacks came on the climb overlooking Varese but the peloton kept them under control.
Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) and Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani-CSF) tried their hand after three laps and opened a 2:30 gap with 50km to go. However, the hilly circuit and the work of Astana saw their lead fade and they were caught by several counter-attackers with just over two laps to go.
Diego Rosa sacrificed his chances to help Nibali by going on the attack and shaking out the group. He then continued to attack and lead the peloton, dragging a group of 20 riders clear. The chasers eventually caught them at the start of the last lap but then Fabio Aru set a fierce pace and made a selection.
Andrea Fedi (Southeast) tried a solo attack and made it over the Montello climb for the last time but Aru used his Vuelta a Espana endurance to gradually drag the peloton up to him.
With 3.5km to go and a last climb to tackle, Nibali dived around Aru on a sweeping turn and launched his first attack. Nizzolo and Pinot got on his wheel but a second attack saw Nibali go clear and begin his solo drive to victory.
The chasers grew in number with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) trying to close the gap on Nibali but he eased when Rebellin and others sat on his wheel. The hesitation was enough for Nibali to find his breath, get over the top of one last rise and time trial to the finish.
While other contenders will arrive in Italy in the next few days for Sunday’s Il Lombardia, Nibali must be the big favourite for the more explosive but hilly finish in the hills above Como.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 4:44:09 |
2 | Sergey Firsanov (Rus) RusVelo | 0:00:08 |
3 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | |
4 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) Southeast | |
5 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | |
6 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN - Qhubeka | |
7 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
8 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
9 | Antonio Parrinello (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
10 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Southeast | |
11 | Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
12 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
13 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida | |
14 | Simone Petilli (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
15 | Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 0:00:12 |
16 | Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Col) Trek Factory Racing | 0:00:22 |
17 | Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | 0:00:34 |
18 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:00:35 |
19 | Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
20 | Alessio Taliani (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
21 | Marco Tizza (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
22 | Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Colombia | |
23 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | 0:00:36 |
24 | Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
25 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
26 | Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:00:39 |
27 | Andrea Fedi (Ita) Southeast | 0:01:08 |
28 | Luca Capelli (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
29 | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Argon 18 | 0:01:22 |
30 | Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing | 0:03:31 |
31 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
32 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
33 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:03:38 |
34 | Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
35 | Michele Gazzarra (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | 0:03:44 |
36 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
37 | Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia | |
38 | Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:05:14 |
39 | Edward Ravasi (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
40 | Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
41 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
42 | Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
43 | Daniel Martínez (Col) Colombia | |
44 | Marco Tecchio (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
45 | Natnael Berhane (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka | |
46 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
47 | Antonio Santoro (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
48 | Gian Marco Di Francesco (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
49 | Stefan Schumacher (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 0:05:19 |
50 | Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
51 | Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
52 | Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:05:24 |
53 | Simone Stortoni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
54 | Luca Chirico (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:06:57 |
55 | Kiryll Pozdnyakov (Rus) RusVelo | |
56 | Antonio Nibali (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
57 | Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 0:07:23 |
58 | Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Bora-Argon 18 | |
59 | Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
60 | Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
61 | Paolo Ciavatta (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
62 | Michele Scartezzini (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
63 | Andrea Cacciotti (Ita) GM Cycling Team | |
64 | Gang Xu (Chn) Lampre-Merida | |
65 | Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
66 | Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre-Merida | |
67 | Gianfranco Zilioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Leonardo Basso (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | Dominik Nerz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Argon 18 | |
DNF | Lucas Euser (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Daniele Ratto (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Kiel Reijnen (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Federico Zurlo (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
DNF | Christian Delle Stelle (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
DNF | Sylwester Szmyd (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
DNF | Tiziano Dall'antonia (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Alberto Nardin (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Michele Viola (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
DNF | Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
DNF | Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
DNF | Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
DNF | Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
DNF | Jaco Venter (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Ildar Arslanov (Rus) RusVelo | |
DNF | Igor Boev (Rus) RusVelo | |
DNF | Roman Maikin (Rus) RusVelo | |
DNF | Sergey Nikolaev (Rus) RusVelo | |
DNF | Ivan Savitskiy (Rus) RusVelo | |
DNF | Artem Nych (Rus) RusVelo | |
DNF | Jorge Camilo Castiblanco Cubides (Col) Colombia | |
DNF | Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Colombia | |
DNF | Carlos Mario Ramirez Botero (Col) Colombia | |
DNF | Ramirez Chacon Brayan Stiven (Col) Colombia | |
DNF | Juan Pablo Valencia (Col) Colombia | |
DNF | Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast | |
DNF | Matteo Busato (Ita) Southeast | |
DNF | Samuele Conti (Ita) Southeast | |
DNF | Luca Wackermann (Ita) Southeast | |
DNF | Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Southeast | |
DNF | Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
DNF | Genki Yamamoto (Jpn) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
DNF | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
DNF | Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
DNF | Manuel Todaro (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
DNF | Alessandro Mariani (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
DNF | Mirko Torta (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
DNF | Alessandro Pettiti (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
DNF | Matteo Spreafico (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
DNF | Giacomo Peretto (Ita) Team Idea 2010 ASD | |
DNF | Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
DNF | Davide Ballerini (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
DNF | Giovanni Pedretti (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
DNF | Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
DNF | Davide Plebani (Ita) Unieuro Wilier | |
DNF | Nicola Gaffurini (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
DNF | Moreno Giampaolo (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
DNF | Luca Muffolini (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
DNF | Matteo Occhialini (Ita) Mg.Kvis-Vega | |
DNF | Filippo Fortin (Ita) GM Cycling Team | |
DNF | José Hernández (Col) GM Cycling Team | |
DNF | Marco D'urbano (Ita) GM Cycling Team | |
DNF | Daniele Cavasin (Ita) GM Cycling Team | |
DNF | Matteo Rotondi (Ita) GM Cycling Team | |
DNF | Andrea Ruscetta (Ita) GM Cycling Team | |
DNF | Giorgio Bocchiola (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
DNF | Adriano Brogi (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
DNF | Thomas Capocchi (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
DNF | Davide Leone (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
DNF | Silvio Giorni (Ita) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
DNF | Iltjan Nika (Alb) d'Amico Bottecchia | |
DNS | Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo - Vini Fantini | |
DNS | Gregor Muhlberger (Aut) Bora-Argon 18 |

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