Ciccone wins Trofeo Laigueglia

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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