Giro della Toscana 2021 [FULL RACE]

September 15, 2021

Giro della Toscana 2021 – Pontedera – Pontedera : 191,6 km

The Giro della Toscana falls in mid-September and regularly opens up an action-packed period of racing known by many as the ‘Autumnal Classics season’. The race was first held back in 1923. Like the other Autumnal Classics, the Giro della Toscana often follows a gruelling, mountain-packed route, making it the preserve of the climbers and Grand Tour specialists. The race has followed a similarly mountainous route around Tuscany throughout its 98-year history and has regularly started and finished in the town of Pontedera. In more recent years, the one-day race has totalled around 200km and featured up to three laps of a gruelling circuit around the mountains to the north of the town. Each lap features an ascent of the infamous Monte Serra – an 8.4km-long climb that boasts an energy-sapping 7.1% average gradient. The descent that follows this cruel climb is equally as tough, with a number of technical corners and adverse cambers to negotiate on the way down. From the foot of the descent to the finish there’s a pan-flat section of around 15km. It’s here where those riders who escaped on the climb must try to work together, if there’s too much infighting then the chasers will be allowed back in.

Michael Valgren (EF Education-Nippo) won the 2021 Giro della Toscana with determined solo attack in the final 14km of the Italian one-day race.

EF Education-Nippo took on Wednesday’s 191km race, first chasing down the early break and then sending Rigobero Urán and Sergio Higuita on the attack over the top of the first ascent of the Monte Serra climb overlooking Pisa.

Geraint Thomas did a lot of work for Ineos Grenadiers to chase them on the valley road and then EF’s Neilson Powless attacked on the second time over the summit of Monte Serra to catch Rafa Majka (UAE Team Emirates), before Valgren took over on the fast flat roads to the finish in Pontedera.

The Danish rider time trialled his way to victory as his rivals attacked each other and Higuita and Powless helped disrupt the chase. Tao Geoghegan Hart was Ineos Grenadiers’ protected leader and tried to jump across to Valgren at one point but the gap soon grew to over a minute, dissuading the chase and sparking a race for the podium spots.

Alessandro De Marchi, riding for the Italian national team, attacked in the final kilometre to finish second, 1:13 behind Valgren, with Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) winning the sprint for third place five seconds behind De Marchi.

Valgren pointed to the red stripes on his jersey sleeves, which indicate that he is a former Danish national champion. Valgren has been selected for next week’s World Championships and his victory indicates he is ready for the race in Flanders.

It was Valgren’s first victory since his 2018 win at the Amstel Gold Race.

“This was harder to win than the Amstel Gold Race. This is a climber’s race and I’m not really a climber, so I had to go really deep,” Valgren said.

“I lived in Lucca during my first year as a professional, so I know the climb really well and like it. It’s good to be up there and fighting for the win.”

New European champion Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) raced in the European white and blue jersey for the first time but was not a contender due to the Monte Serra climb. He is expected to challenge in the Coppa Sabatini race on Thursday that is held in the same area of Tuscany and finishes on the gradual climb to the centre of Peccioli.

Results :
1 Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo 4:33:37
2 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Italy 0:01:13
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:18
4 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
5 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
6 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
7 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
8 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Sergio Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Education-Nippo
10 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
11 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
12 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
13 Daniel Muñoz Giraldo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
14 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
15 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) TotalEnergies
16 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
17 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo
18 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
19 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:26
20 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:58
21 Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:08
22 Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
23 Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
24 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
25 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:11
26 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:04:49
27 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:00
28 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:05:15
29 Jefferson Cepeda Ortiz (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:05:38
30 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:05:58
31 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
32 Alessio Nieri (Ita) Italy
33 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain Victorious
34 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
35 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo
36 Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:06:00
37 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:08:01
38 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:09:57
39 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
40 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech
41 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:41
42 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo
43 Andrea Piccolo (Ita) Italy
44 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
45 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
46 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
47 Marco Frigo (Ita) Italy
48 William Barta (USA) EF Education-Nippo
49 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) TotalEnergies
50 Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
51 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
52 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
53 Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
54 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
55 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Natnael Tesfazion (Eri) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
57 Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team
58 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
59 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
60 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
61 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Italy
DNF Michael Belleri (Ita) Italy
DNF Matteo Carboni (Ita) Italy
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
DNF Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
DNF Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
DNF James Whelan (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
DNF Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
DNF Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Filippo Magli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Erik Fetter (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Iker Ballarin Manso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
DNF Victor de la Parte (Spa) TotalEnergies
DNF Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies
DNF Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
DNF Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies
DNF Andrea Di Renzo (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Daniel Pearson (GBr) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Veljko Stojnic (Srb) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Joab Schneiter (Swi) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Victor Langellotti (Mon) Burgos-BH
DNF Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
DNF Mario Aparicio Muñoz (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH
DNF Maksym Bilyi (Ukr) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Daniel Nastasi (Ita) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Nicolas Nesi (Ita) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Besnik Islami (Ita) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Luca Roberti (Ita) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Jeferson Armando Ruiz Acuña (Col) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Daniel Smarzaro (Ita) D’Amico Um Tools
DNF Francesco Carollo (Ita) Mg.K Vis Vpm
DNF Fabio Di Guglielmo (Ita) Mg.K Vis Vpm
DNF Paul Double (GBr) Mg.K Vis Vpm
DNF Edoardo Martinelli (Ita) Mg.K Vis Vpm
DNF Jacopo Cortese (Ita) Mg.K Vis Vpm
DNF Niccolo’ Salvietti (Ita) Mg.K Vis Vpm
DNF Paul Wright (NZl) Mg.K Vis Vpm