Ciccone wins Trofeo Laigueglia

Giulio Ciccone (Italy National Team) won the Trofeo Laigueglia, soloing off the front of a late attack group on the hilly closing circuit on the Ligurian coast. The 25-year-old beat Biniam Girmay (Nippo Delko One Provence) and Diego Rosa (Arkéa-Samsic) by 31 seconds to secure the sixth win of his career.

The Italian had made it away with the duo and Marco Tizza (Amore & Vita-Prodir) on the second of four laps in Laigueglia, some 30km from the finish. 

The quartet built up a strong lead over the hills, despite the efforts of Vini Zabù-KTM behind.

Ciccone, who usually rides for trade team Trek-Segafredo, took his chance 10km from the line on the final ascent of the Colla Micheri, staying away to the end to clinch victory on his first race day of the season.

"Leaving the mark at the first race of the year is a great feeling," said Ciccone via Trek-Segafredo press release. "Honestly, I knew I was good at training camp, we worked very well there, and in the last few days, I've been fine-tuning the condition to be ready for this race. But having a good feeling and winning, of course, is not mathematical.

"When we started the climb for the last time, I knew it could be the right time to go solo. Rosa was pulling hard to make the selection, and I waited for his drop in speed to make my attack. From there to the finish line, there was still one more KOM and a tricky false flat stretch – that was the point that worried me the most."

How it unfolded

The Trofeo Laigueglia marked the start of the Italian race season and the beginning of the season-long Coppa Italia competition. The 203km semi-classic is also the first one-day race of the newly introduced ProSeries calendar.

With two large hills en route in the form of Cima Paravenna and Testico, plus four laps of a hilly circuit to finish, the race usually sees puncheurs and climbers triumph.

A fast start saw the break of the day form after 33km of racing, with Antonio Di Sante (Sangemini-Trevigiani-MG. K Vis) and Matteo Basseggio (General Store-Essegibi-F.lli Curia) getting away and quickly building an eight-minute gap.

Back in the peloton, the Italian national team (Giulio Ciccone), Arkéa-Samsic (Diego Rosa), and Vini Zabù-KTM (Giovanni Visconti) worked at the front in service of their leaders.

At the 110km mark on Testico, Arkéa took over, swiftly bringing the gap down to three minutes. It would only fall from there, with the descent seeing another minute drop away.

As the leaders began the first of four laps of the final circuit, it was almost over. They were duly caught the first time up the Colla Micheri (2km at 8.2 per cent), while the Capo Mele – a fixture on Milan-San Remo – lay in wait.

Diego Rosa jumped away the second time up the climb, bringing Ciccone, Girmay and Tizza along for the ride.

The quartet enjoyed a 25-second lead as Vini Zabù led the chase. The next time up Micheri, Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-RusVelo) led a small group in pursuit with Lorenzo Rota (Vini Zabù-KTM), Davide Gabburo (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R La Mondiale).

Tizza was the first to drop back from the lead group, and soon after there was movement off the front as Ciccone made his move on the final ascent of Micheri with 10km to go. Girmay and Rosa chased hard, but Ciccone enjoyed a 15-second advantage on the Capo Mele.

From there, it was simply a fight for the minor placings as Ciccone soloed home. Girmay out-sprinted Rosa for second, while Vendrame was best of the rest in fourth.

Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Italy National Team 5:10:27
2Biniam Hailu (Eri) Nippo Delko One Provence 0:00:32
3Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Arkea - Samsic
4Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:17
5Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM
6Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom - RusVelo
7Davide Gabburo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec 0:01:21
8Marco Tizza (Ita) Amore & Vita - Prodir 0:01:48
9Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:01:55
10Filippo Conca (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
11Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM 0:02:07
12Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
13Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom - RusVelo
14Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
15Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
16Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
17Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
18Mauro Finetto (Ita) Nippo Delko One Provence
19Julien Trarieux (Fra) Nippo Delko One Provence
20Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea - Samsic
21Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM
22Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM 0:02:11
23Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM 0:02:19
24Matteo Busato (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM
25Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Italy National Team 0:03:53
26Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea - Samsic 0:05:35
27Francesco Romano (Ita) Bardiani - CSF - Faizane
28Davide Casarotto (Ita) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
29Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea - Samsic
30Daniel Smarzaro (Ita) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
31Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom - RusVelo
32Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
33Luca Raggio (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
34Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
35Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:38
36Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom - RusVelo
37Thomas Pesenti (Ita) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol 0:08:00
38Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec 0:08:57
39Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani - CSF - Faizane
40Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani - CSF - Faizane
41Jesper Schultz (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:09:51
42Paolo Totò (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
43Federico Zurlo (Ita) Giotti Victoria
44Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
45Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani - CSF - Faizane
46Ivan Martinelli (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
47Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom - RusVelo
48Raffaele Radice (Ita) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
49Andrea Piccolo (Ita) Team Colpack - Ballan
50Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Colpack - Ballan
51Alessio Martinelli (Ita) Team Colpack - Ballan
52Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
53Riccardo Lucca (Ita) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
54Marc Oliver Pritzen (RSA) NTT Continental Cycling Team
55Samuele Rubino (Ita) NTT Continental Cycling Team
56Michael Belleri (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
DNFMarco Canola (Ita) Gazprom - RusVelo
DNFPetr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom - RusVelo
DNFRiccardo Bobbo (Ita) NTT Continental Cycling Team
DNFMattia Guasco (Ita) NTT Continental Cycling Team
DNFMartin Lavrič (Slo) NTT Continental Cycling Team
DNFLeonardo Marchiori (Ita) NTT Continental Cycling Team
DNFDaniele Braidot (Ita) Italy National Team
DNFLuca Braidot (Ita) Italy National Team
DNFLuca Coati (Ita) Italy National Team
DNFNiccolò Ferri (Ita) Italy National Team
DNFSamuele Zambelli (Ita) Italy National Team
DNFFumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Nippo Delko One Provence
DNFAlessandro Fedeli (Ita) Nippo Delko One Provence
DNFRamunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Nippo Delko One Provence
DNFAtsushi Oka (Jpn) Nippo Delko One Provence
DNFKim Magnusson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
DNFTorkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
DNFAndrea Di Renzo (Ita) Vini Zabu - KTM
DNFUmberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani - CSF - Faizane
DNFFilippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani - CSF - Faizane
DNFFranck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea - Samsic
DNFRomain Le Roux (Fra) Team Arkea - Samsic
DNFAlan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea - Samsic
DNFMattia Bais (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
DNFMattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
DNFMatteo Baseggio (Ita) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
DNFZahiri Abderrahim (Mar) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
DNFRiccardo Tosin (Ita) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
DNFSander Andersen (Den) General Store - Essegibi - F.lli Curia
DNFMichael Bresciani (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
DNFNicholas Rinaldi (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
DNFDaniel Nastasi (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
DNFNicolas Nesi (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
DNFOrlando Pitzanti (Ita) Area Zero - D'Amico - UM Tools
DNFMatteo Carboni (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
DNFJacopo Menegotto (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
DNFDavide Plebani (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
DNFStefano Taglietti (Ita) Biesse Arvedi
DNFDavide Baldaccini (Ita) Team Colpack - Ballan
DNFGiulio Masotto (Ita) Team Colpack - Ballan
DNFTommaso Rigatti (Ita) Team Colpack - Ballan
DNFAntonio Tiberi (Ita) Team Colpack - Ballan
DNFFrancesco Di Felice (Ita) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
DNFAlessandro Marinozzi (Ita) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
DNFRiccardo Ciuccarelli (Ita) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
DNFNiccolo' Salvietti (Ita) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
DNFAntonio Di Sante (Ita) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
DNFArtur Sowinski (Pol) Sangemini - Trevigiani - Mg.k Vis
DNFFilippo Baroncini (Ita) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol
DNFSimone Raccani (Ita) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol
DNFMarco Grendene (Ita) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol
DNFMassimo Orlandi (Ita) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol
DNFNicolo' Parisini (Ita) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol
DNFMatúš Štoček (Svk) Beltrami - TSA - Marchiol
DNFFederico Burchio (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
DNFRaul Colombo (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
DNFDario Puccioni (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
DNFMatteo Rotondi (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
DNFAntonio Santoro (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
DNFFrancesco Zandri (Ita) Work Service - Dynatek - Vega
DNFEmil Dima (Rom) Giotti Victoria
DNFMatteo Gaido (Ita) Giotti Victoria
DNFCiprian Ioan Jitaru (Rom) Giotti Victoria
DNFViktor Filutás (Hun) Giotti Victoria
DNFEmanuele Onesti (Ita) Giotti Victoria
DNFRaul-Antonio Sinza (Rom) Giotti Victoria
DNFYukinori Hishinuma (Jpn) Amore & Vita - Prodir
DNFAndrea Meucci (Ita) Amore & Vita - Prodir
DNFKristaps Pelcers (Lat) Amore & Vita - Prodir
DNFCharly Petelin (Lux) Amore & Vita - Prodir
DNSAugust Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team

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Daniel Ostanek
Production editor

Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.

 

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

 

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also runs The Leadout newsletter and oversees How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40.

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