Magnus Cort solos to Veneto Classic victory from breakaway

Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) won the Veneto Classic on the final day of the European road season. He was part of a six-rider breakaway who moved away from the peloton in the opening 25km and launched a solo attack on the Diesel Farm climb with 10km remaining to score the victory.

Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) finished 16 seconds back in the chase for second. Meurisse Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) outsprinted 2022 Veneto winner Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) for the final podium spot another two seconds back.

"It's the perfect way for me to end the season," Cort said at the finish after riding in the breakaway for more than 170 kilometres. "It's a pretty spectacular race, maybe not one of the big classics, but I am happy and proud how I rode it.

"The reason I wanted to get in the breakaway was because of that hill [La Tisa]. I knew if we could come in on the laps with the cobblestone climb and have a gap in there, we could go a really long way because it is a very difficult climb."

Cort was among a trio of the six original riders in the breakaway to continue on five difficult circuits that included a cobbled 'wall' of La Tisa (330m at 15.5%). He then used a gravel ascent of Diesel Farm (1.3km at 10.9%) to go clear on his own.

The fourth edition of this 1.Pro contest featured 197km from Soave to Bassano del Grappa on north-east Italy. The course featured two ascents of La Rosina (2.1km at 6.5%) on a 12.6km circuit completed twice, then tackled the La Tisa circuit, with five passes over La Tisa. The final challenge was the sharp Diesel Farm gravel climb followed by the Contrà Soarda (400m at 134%), within 2.5km to the finish at Piazza Libertà.

The race saw multiple attacks from the start but nothing sticking early on. Finally, a group of six gained more than a minute after 30km of racing - Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Kyrylo Tsarenko (Team Corratec - Vini Fantini) and Riccardo Biondani (General Store - Essegibi - F.Lli Curia).

Another 100km on the six held a steady lead that reached 2:40. Tsarenko, Biondani and Gougeard had dropped back to the peloton with under 60km to race. Then the attacks began to fire as the peloton approached the base of the La Tisa for the first time. 

Cort, Bayer and Foldager held a 1:20 advantage with 23km to go, but a calvary of six pressed from behind, comprised of New Zealander George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech) and five Italians - Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates), Davide De Pretto (Jayco-AlUla), Simone Gualdi (Wanty-ReUz-Technord), Lorenzo Rota (intermarché-Wanty) and Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).

Once off the gravel for a fifth and final time, the leading trio's advantage was down to 30 seconds for the final 10 kilometres.

Cort attacked on the Diesel Farm ascent for a solo effort. His breakaway companions were soon passed by Pellizzari and a resurgent effort by three others who had made inroads from the reduced peloton, Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla), Hirschi, and Grégoire.

On the Strada Soarda with 4.6km to go, Grégoire launched his solo effort to catch Cort, but ran out of cobbles to make the catch as the Dane had crossed the line for his fourth victory of the season.

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