Skujins wins Tre Valli Varesine

Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) claimed victory at the 2018 Tre Valli Varesine, winning from a group of seven that arrived at the line in Varese.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) opened the sprint but was unable to match Skujins’ finishing speed and had to settle for second place, while Peter Kennaugh (Bora-Hansgrohe), who had launched a solo bid for victory several kilometres previously, took the final spot on the podium.

Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First-Drapac) had attacked from the peloton and caught and breezed past Kennaugh on the final incline, but he was joined for the slightly downhill final few kilometres by Pinot and his own teammate Michael Woods, with Skujins, Kennaugh, Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), and Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), jumping on board, having been part of earlier attacks.

Urán led the way in the final kilometre to keep a chase group containing Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) at bay, and while he succeeded in doing so, Woods was unable to make an impact in the sprint as Skujins ripped down the right-hand side of the road before punching the air.

The one-day race, part of a string of autumn Italian Classics and the third and final instalment of the Trittico Lombardo series, centred on two circuits around Varese, with six laps of ‘the short circuit’ - a 12.6km loop over the Montello climb (1.7km at 5.5%) - and two laps of ‘the long circuit’ - a 21.2km loop that took in the Montello and then another climb to Morosolo (1.7km at 7.6%).

Skujins and Frank, were in a trio - along with Robert Power (Mitchelton-Scott) - that went clear on the final part of the first of the long laps, and they were joined after the bell by Kennaugh and Kelderman, as well as Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Ivan Santaromita (Nippo Vini Fantini).

Power attacked on the final climb up Morosolo and Kennaugh was the next to chance his arm over the other side but, with the peloton close at hand, Urán ripped across and looked commanding as he passed the escapees and dropped Kennaugh on a subsequent incline. Pinot was the one to respond from the bunch and he made his way across with Woods in tow, as Skujins, Kelderman, Kennaugh, and Frank tagged along.

There was little chasing force in the vastly reduced peloton behind, and the seven riders entered the final few hundred metres with a sufficient advantage, with Skujins collecting his fourth victory of his best season to date with a convincing sprint.

How it unfolded

It was a fast start to proceedings, with 48 kilometres covered in an attacking first hour of racing. It took 35km for a proper breakaway to form, and it contained Matteo Bono (UAE Team Emirates), Michael Storer (Team Sunweb), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF), Edoardo Zardini (Willier Triestina-Selle Italia) and Paolo Toto (Sangemini - MG Kvis). The escapees opened up a lead of nearly nine minutes on the flat opening section of the route, but the gap steadily decreased on the climb to Castello Cabiaglio (7.2km at 3.5 per cent) and the descent towards Varese.

The breakaway riders crossed the finished line for the first time with a lead of five minutes but that was reduced to three minutes after two laps of the short circuit and to 1:30 after four laps. Just ahead of the final lap, with just over 50km remaining in total, the race ignited as some big names attacked from the peloton and made their way over to the head of the race.

Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Leo Vincent (Groupama-FDJ), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andrea Bagioli (UAE Team Emirates), Floris De Tier (LottoNL-Jumbo), Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) were the first to go, while Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) and Sebastien Reichenbach) left it a little later but soon made it across. All of the breakaway riders, with the exception of Zardini, fell away, leaving 13 riders at the head of affairs.

Those 13 finished the last of the short laps and crossed the finish line for the start of the two long laps with a lead of 35 seconds, but EF-Drapac set a strong tempo at the head of the bunch and the escapees were reeled in on the Morosolo climb.

That sparked attacks on the slightly downhill final part of the first lap, and Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), and Robert Power (Mitchelton-Scott) succeeded in getting away to take the bell in the lead, though they were soon joined by five counter-attackers: Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Ivan Santaromita (Nippo Vini Fantini). Latecomer Peter Kennaugh (Bora-Hansgrohe) then bridged across to make it nine out front with a slim advantage heading into the final 20km.

On the final ascent of Montello the hostilities kicked off behind, with David Gaudu (FDJ) producing an acceleration to which Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) immediately responded, with many of the favourites jumping to force a brief split of around 20. Rigoberto Urán (EF-Drapac) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) both led the reduced bunch down the descent, and the attacks continued on the flatter roads, with Guillaume Boivin (Israel Academy) dangling in front with Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) for a while.

The nine leaders hit the final climb of Morosolo with a lead of around 20 seconds, and Power piled on the pressure. First he created a selection, dropping Santaromita, Buchmann, Visconti, and Tolhoek and kicked again to lead solo over the top of the climb. Power was soon reeled in, and Kennaugh in turn went on a solo attack ahead of a secondary incline.
By this point the peloton was close at hand, and Urán went on the attack.

He quickly made his way over to the dropped breakaway riders before reaching Kennaugh and breezing past the Briton. The response came from Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), who closed the gap with Uran’s teammate Michael Woods on the wheel. Skujins, Kennaugh, Frank, and Kelderman also produced second efforts to make what turned out to be the decisive selection.

Valverde was in the group behind, racing in the world champion’s jersey for the first time, and so was Nibali, but they were unable to claw their way back, leaving the leading seven to sprint it out and Skujins to emerge victorious.

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