Jan Polanc wins Trofeo Laigueglia with late attack

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Jan Polanc snatched victory for UAE Team Emirates at the Trofeo Laigueglia, catching the leading trio that included teammates Alessandro Covi and Juan Ayuso in the final kilometre and then jumping away to win alone.

Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) looked the strongest in the front trio but as they eased, Polanc got back on with Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers). When he kicked, Rota didn’t move and Rodriguez looked tired, surrendering victory.

In the sprint to the line Ayuso and Covi completed a UAE Team Emirates podium, with Rota finishing fourth.

"I felt good during the race. We knew that Covi was the fastest and so we worked for him. But I wanted to do all I could for the team with two laps to go, so I attacked," Polanc said after the finish.

"That's why I suffered on the final lap and was dropped but I didn't give up. I saw they'd eased up, so I thought I'd go for it and attack them. It worked out."

UAE Team Emirates set-up their dominance on the descent to the finishing circuits with 50km to go, placing six riders in the split of just 22.

"We knew the long descent to the start of the finishing circuits was dangerous so we went for it and rode on the front. We saw we'd got a gap and so we worked with Intermarché to make sure we stayed away.

"This win is for my family. I'm a domestique and so don't win very often. But when I do, it's emotional and so something to celebrate."

How it unfolded

The opening race of the 2022 Italian season is a hard test of climbing and descending skills on the Liguarian coast, with Laigueglia only 50km from San Remo. The Capo Mele climb, one of the first in Milan-San Remo, is the final obstacle of the 202km race.

The first race route rides east along the coast and then into the steep Ligurian valleys over the Cima Paravernna and Testico before returning to Laigueglia for four 10.8km circuits of the Colla Micheri headland. The final climb is short but steep, with the descent equally testing. Poor descenders are advised to avoid the Trofeo Laigueglia.

This year's race was held in the sun, with 165 riders starting the race but with Gazprom-Rusvelo pulled at the last minute due to the UCI ban on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

The early break dominated the racing until 60km to go and the long descent to Laigueglia for the finishing circuits.

A group of over 22 riders went off the front on the nerve-wracking descent with Trek-Segafredo surprisingly missing the move. However, UAE Team Emirates, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert and Ineos Grenadiers were there in numbers and decided to take on the race as Trek-Segafredo tried to mount a chase to get Giulio Ciccone back in the race.

Up front were Davide Formolo, Ivo Oliveira, Jan Polanc, Alessandro Covi, Joel Suter, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Jan Bakelants, Théo Delacroix, Simone Petilli, Lorenzo Rota, Quinten Hermans (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Eddie Dunbar, Carlos Rodriguez, Salvatore Puccio, Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers), Samuele Battistella, Fabio Felline, Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan), David Gaudu, Matthieu Ladagnous (Groupama-FDJ), and Lukasz Owsian (Arkéa-Samsic).

Some were dropped after driving the break to the finish area and the foot of the Colla Micheri climb and others were shaken out on each lap of the climb and descent.

UAE Team Emirates rightly went on the attack on each climb and always had a numerical advantage as the kilometre ticked down, with a crash on the descent taking out Gaudu, Dunbar, Battistella and Formolo.

Ciccone tried a solo chase from the peloton with two laps and 20km to race but quickly faded, with the attackers still a minute up the road. The front group split on the penultimate descent, with Porte struggling on the descent in a battle of nerves and numerical supremacy for UAE Team, Emirates.

Polanc attacked early on the last climb but was carefully pulled back by Rota who looked the strongest. However, he was outnumbered, even when he got away with Ayuso and Covi on the final descent, he had to ride along the coast to the finish to stop Polanc and Rodriguez getting back on.

Ayuso and Covi seemed unsure of how to ride against faster finisher Rota over the Capo Mele for the last time and risked an embarrassing defeat. Fortunately, Rodriguez dragged never-say-die Polanc back up to them and then the Slovenian used his last drops of energy to make a late solo attack just as the leading trio were caught.

Rota did not react and so lost any chance of victory, setting up UAE Team Emirates for their 1-2-3 finish.