Diego Ulissi wins the GP Costa degli Etruschi
Feb 06 2017 02:48 am CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSDiego Ulissi of UAE Abu Dhabi has won the GP Costa degli Etruschi and as such the first victory on the Italian cycling calendar of 2017. The Italian was faster than his compatriots Manuel Belleti of Willier Trestina and Francesco Gavazzi of Androni Giocattolo-Sidermec, who finished second and third respectively.
The 22nd edition of the race was 190.8 kilometers long. Numerous attempts to attack were made early on but it was after half an hour in the course that a group of five managed to get away from the peloton: Enrico Salvador (Tirol Cycling Team), Davide Pacchiardo (GM Europa Ovini), Andrea Cacciotti (Unieuro), Daniel Lehner (Team Felbermayr) and Niccolo Salvietti (Sangemini-MG).
The escapees managed to create a gap of more than eight minutes with the peloton but things changed on the first ascent to the Torre Segalari, when Pacchiardo and Cacciotti were dropped. With the breakaway losing strength, the pack accelerated under the leadership of Ulissi himself.
On the second ascent, the Italian rider attacked and quickly created a gap. Even though Nippo-Fantini pushed harder to catch him, Ulissi retained a gap of 18 second entering the 10 kilometer mark, which was enough to claim the victory.
"The premises for obtaining my first victory in my hometown race, after two podiums in the past editions, were good," said the rider at the finish of the race. "I was aware my shape would have allowed me to be competitive, the team supported me even better than it was possible to expect. All my team mates were great, also the young ones."
Ulissi's win follows the victories of Grega Bole in 2016 and Manuel Belletti in 2015.
