© Giro dell’Emilia
Giro dell’Emilia: Roglic pads his exit
After announcing his imminent departure from Jumbo-Visma on the morning of the event, just to put the noise around his future to rest at least for the moment, Primoz Roglic said he wanted to concentrate on the Giro dell’Emilia. He did that extremely well. The Slovenian emerged victorious by beating Tadej Pogacar (2nd), who was aggressive but not sharp enough, and Simon Yates (3rd) in the sprint. This is his third victory in the Italian event after having already won in 2019 and 2021.
The winner of the last Giro was able to remain patient at the end of the race where the favorites marked each other without making any decisive moves, while Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) kept the pace high for Tadej Pogacar. There were only nine riders left to compete for victory at the start of the last lap around the Basilica of San Luca, and everything came down to the final climb where Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) then Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) timidly tried their luck, but without success.
Everything was going to be played out between the two best punchers in the group. Pogacar attempted a first attack, just before the final kilometer, which was not sharp enough. Then his compatriot accelerated 350 meters from the line, and no one could follow his wheel. “I love this race and it feels good to win it again,” smiled Primoz Roglic, at the finish, after his 80th career victory, which is a promising performance coming just one week before the Tour of Lombardy, on October 7.
The results: 1. Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) ; 2. Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) ; 3. S. Yates (Jayco-AlUla)…
*****
Cro Race: Aular narrowly wins
It was an unusual end to the Tour of Croatia for Orluis Aular. The Venezuelan from Caja Rural, leader of the general classification since his sprint victory on Saturday during the 5th stage, crashed in the bunch sprint at the end of the sixth and final stage this Sunday.
Though unfortunate, the incident did not deprive him of victory in the general classification, since he won by three seconds ahead of the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X), who also finished second this Sunday in the final stage won by the New Zealander Campbell Stewart (Jayco-AlUla).
The results: 1. Aular (Caja Rural – Segural RGA) ; 2. Kristoff (Uno-X) ; 3. Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers)…
Stages won by: Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers) ; Leitão (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) ; Parisini (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) ; Mohorič (Bahrain – Victorious) ; Aular (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) ; Stewart (Team Jayco AlUla).
*****
Coppa Agostoni – Giro delle Brianze: Formolo and a complete triumph by UAE Team Emirates
Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) won the 76th edition of the Coppa Agostoni – Giro delle Brianze. In the final kilometers of the event, a group of four riders managed to escape from the peloton with Victor Lafay (Cofidis), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) and Formolo.
On the last climb of the day, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) made the effort and managed to join up with the four leaders. Eleven kilometers from the finish, Davide Formolo went on the attack to get away on his own. As a result, the 30-year-old Italian took the solo victory, more than three years after his last success. He was ahead of his teammate Marc Hirschi, who attacked his companions in the last kilometer, with Victor Lafay finishing in 3rd.
“I’m very happy. I really missed the feeling of victory,” Formolo explained. “My task was to monitor the peloton as much as possible on the climb to Lissolo and that meant I ended up in the leading group with four other riders. When Hirschi bridged up to us, I had to maintain a high pace in order to give the advantage to Marc in case of a sprint finish. But we noticed that the opponents were marking him very strongly, so we decided to try to exploit the freedom they seemed willing to give me. I attacked on the last little climb and it was the winning move.”
The results: 1. Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) ; 2. Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) ; 3. Lafay (Cofidis)…
*****
Grand Prix Cerami: Fouché wins the sprint
New Zealander James Fouché won the GP Cerami sprint, at the end of the 152.6 kilometers between Mons and Frameries. The puncher from the Bolton Equities Black Spokes team, who succeeded the Frenchman Bryan Coquard, winner in 2019, beat the Dutchman Lars Boven (Jumbo-Visma) and the Frenchman Marius Macé (SCQ Dijon-Matériel Vélo).
The race was indecisive until the last local circuit where four riders, including the winning trio and the Belgian Abram Stockman, 4th on the line, managed to escape the peloton behind and hold on until the final sprint. Fouché scored his first success of the season in Frameries, having twice won his national road championship (2019 and 2022), as well as the Oceanian continental championship (2022).
The results: 1. Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spokes) ; 2. Boven (Jumbo-Visma Development) ; 3. Macé (SCQ Dijon-Matériel Vélo)…
*****
Tour de Vendée: Démare’s first success with Arkéa-Samsic
Arnaud Démare finally can exhale. At the end of a difficult season, which notably saw him change teams in the middle of summer, moving from Groupama-FDJ to Arkéa-Samsic, the sprinter won his first victory with his new team at the Tour de Vendée. Well supported by his teammates, he was able to overtake Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) in the sprint. Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) completed the podium, after being led-out by Peter Sagan, who was competing in the last road race of his career.
“There are a lot of emotions; I’ve really struggled lately,” admitted the 32-year-old Démare, for whom everything changed in just a few months. “It’s a great victory. The whole team performed extremely well. I’m super happy, considering Laurent Pichon is ending his career today and it’s my first win for Arkéa-Samsic, it’s really special.”
The results: 1. Démare (Arkéa-Samsic) ; 2. Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) ; 3. Dujardin (TotalEnergies)…
*****
Upcoming races:
2 October: Coppa Bernocchi, https://www.uslegnanese.it/coppa-bernocchi/
3 October: Sparkassen Münsterland Giro, https://muensterland-giro.de/
3 October: Tre Valli Varesine, https://www.trevallivaresine.com/en/index-3/
5 October: Gran Piemonte, https://www.ilgranpiemonte.it/
5 October: Paris-Gien-Bourges, http://www.parisbourges.fr/
7 October: Il Lombardia, https://www.ilombardia.it/en/
8 October: Paris-Tours, https://www.paris-tours.fr/fr/