Lots of strong sprinters here to kick us off at the Italian NC, but few with a strong team to support them. Guardini is really the only one with a proper leadout train in Trentin and Favilli, although Lierse also bring two good sprinters with Bonifazio and Mareczko. But we’ve seen in sprints that it isn’t always a good thing to have the strongest team. Let’s see how it plays out here.
Startlist
Spoiler
Ballerini
Davide
Aegon - Peroni
Carboni
Giovanni
Aegon - Peroni
Ciccone
Giulio
Aegon - Peroni
Zardini
Edoardo
Aegon - Peroni
Conci
Nicola
Aramco DP
Ulissi
Diego
Aramco DP
Dainese
Alberto
Bakkafrost
Guarnieri
Jacopo
Bakkafrost
Konychev
Alexander
Bakkafrost
Fabbro
Matteo
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
Basso
Leonardo
Centovalli - Fiat
Manfredi
Andrea
Centovalli - Fiat
Moscon
Gianni
Centovalli - Fiat
Wackermann
Luca
Desigual
Bagioli
Nicola
Duolingo
Aru
Fabio
eBuddy
Brambilla
Gianluca
eBuddy
Conti
Valerio
eBuddy
Affini
Edoardo
Farfetch Pro Cycling
Bettiol
Alberto
Farfetch Pro Cycling
Bongiorno
Francesco
Festina - OAKA
Nizzolo
Giacomo
Festina - OAKA
Boaro
Manuele
Gazelle
Formolo
Davide
Gazelle
Masnada
Fausto
Generali
Ratto
Daniele
Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team
Gabburo
Davide
Isostar - Specialized
Viviani
Elia
King Power
Bonifazio
Niccolo
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
Covi
Alessandro
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
Fedeli
Alessandro
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
Mareczko
Jakub
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
Senni
Manuel
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
Sterbini
Luca
Los Pollos Hermanos
Balloni
Alfredo
Mapei
Favilli
Elia
Mapei
Guardini
Andrea
Mapei
Ravanelli
Simone
Mapei
Trentin
Matteo
Mapei
Velasco
Simone
Mapei
Cattaneo
Mattia
MOL
Lo Cicero
Ivano
MOL
Villella
Davide
Nordstrom - CA Technologies
Scaroni
Cristian
Philips
Costagli
Teodoro
Rakuten Pro Cycling
Ganna
Filippo
Team Puma - SAP
Dal Col
Andrea
Team Tinkoff - La Datcha
Malori
Adrian
Team Tinkoff - La Datcha
Moser
Moreno
Team Tinkoff - La Datcha
Ponzi
Simone
Team UBS
Vendrame
Andrea
Volvo acc. by Spotify
Into the final 10 kilometers, we have an attack by Basso. Lierse, MOL and Bakkafrost have been doing the work at the front of the peloton all day and continue to do so here.
Basso with a valiant effort, carrying 20 seconds into the final 4 kilometers. Conci now tries to close the gap as 43 riders have split from the rest of the peloton, with all major sprinters still present, Trentin being the biggest name caught behind.
Mareczko finally leads the favorites past Basso with 1,5 kilometers to go. Following Bonifazio are Moser, Nizzolo and Guardini. Guarnieri is brought to the front by Dainese, Lo Cicero and Cattaneo are even further behind.
Mareczko kept up a good pace but Bonifazio has to move to the front with around 900 meters left. Moser immediately tries to go past him, Guarnieri has caught up on the right but also goes into the wind already. Vendrame and Ballerini are now also in the mix, Lo Cicero still just outside the frame.
Guarnieri with a slight edge over the others, but it’s still anyone’s race to win! Who can keep up the pace?
It’s a three-way tie just a few meters ahead of the line!
Niccolo Bonifazio takes it! A special win after what has not always been an easy season for him!
A handful of riders are targetting the win here, a very tight field of competitors.
Malori is the first rider of note out here today. He crushes all previous times and comes in at just 57’31.
Ganna certainly will have a chance to win this title in the future, but he’s not there yet. Currently 2nd at the line, but over a minute off the lead. Still, a bit better than Boaro, who finishes next, another 15 seconds slower.
Then we’re in the title fight. Throughout all checkpoints, Malori has kept the lead, but the final sector can still change things a lot. Balloni is the first of the other major contenders to finish, but he’s almost a minute short.
Sterbini is two seconds faster and takes provisional second.
Then comes Malori’s teammate Dal Col, who comes closest so far: Just 10 seconds slower. He made up 25 seconds on Malori in the final sector alone, though.
Viviani comes in third at the moment, 29 seconds too slow. Only one man who can still beat Malori …
… and that’s Cattaneo. He was 38 seconds off at the second time check and despite a good final stretch, that’s too much to overcome. Cattaneo finishes third, Adrian Malori is the new Italian ITT Champion!
Italian Championships - RR 
