Gran Piemonte 2020 [FULL RACE]

August 12, 2020

Gran Piemonte 2020 – Santo Stefano Belbo – Barolo : 187 km

The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a few days before the more important race Giro di Lombardia.

George Bennett gave Jumbo-Visma yet another victory two hours after Wout van Aert won stage 1 at the Criterium du Dauphine, winning the one-day Gran Piemonte race in Italy with a perfectly timed attack on the final climb through the Langhe vineyards.

The Kiwi opened a gap on the decisive late climb and descent and then held off the chasers as the skies opened and the rain poured on the race.

Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) made a very late charge and closed the gap on Bennett on the climb to the finish line but Bennett dug deep to win by five metres. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won the sprint for third ahead of a small group of chasers, four seconds behind Bennett. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) was fourth and Simon Geschke (CCC Team) fifth.

“I only had two days left this season where I could ride for myself: today and Saturday, then I go back to being a domestique. On our team, we have the best riders in the world, so I had an opportunity now, on this team, and I really had to take it,” Bennett said.

“I’m really happy that I could do it today. I told the boys that I wanted to try and they really did a wonderful job. They told us on the radio half way that Wout [Van Aert] won at the Dauphine, Wout is winning, everyone is winning everywhere, and I wanted to get in on the action.

“I waited until the last part of the race. I was worried it wasn’t hard enough, so I asked the boys to make it as hard as they could. They did a good job; all the boys positioned me all day. Then Vincenzo (Nibali) tried to attack and as soon as he was fading a little bit, I went. I was a bit scared on the downhill when it was half rain-half dry, that’s always scary because you don’t know how hard you can push. I tried to take it as easy as I could but still go fast.”

Bennett will stay in Italy and lead Jumbo-Visma in Saturday’s Il Lombardia, while Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin and Steven Kruijswijk take on Team Ineos and the rest at the Criterium du Dauphine.

How it unfolded

Gran Piemonte – or the Giro del Piemonte as it used to be called – has changed location and dates over the years. In the 1980s, it moved to its familiar, pre-Tour of Lombardy slot as part of the Trittico d’Autunno with Milano-Torino. This year’s August date is due to the revised COVID-19 UCI calendar but it retains its proximity to Il Lombardia, which is scheduled for Saturday. Many of the riders at the start will also line-up in Bergamo on Saturday. Last year Egan Bernal won the summit finish at Oropa but this year’s 187km route was a more of a rolling affair amongst the Langhe hills and vineyards from Santo Stefano Belbo to Barolo. The Langhe produces some of the world’s finest wines and the hills of this region lend themselves readily to a race for puncheurs.

It was another hot and humid day as the riders rolled out in the early afternoon, with temperatures of 30C and humidity close to 65 per cent. The early break formed after a few kilometres with Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Callum Scotson (Mitchelton-Scott) going clear. They were soon joined Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team) and Philipp Walsleben (Alpecin-Fenix) and the peloton let them go, with the gap eventually to rising over five minutes. Astana took early control at the head of the peloton, riding for recent Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge winner Aleksandr Vlasov. The four attackers still lead by 5:45 with 100km left to race and pushed the gap out to 6:15 as they reached Barolo for the start of the two 44km hilly finishing laps.

Trek-Segafredo, Jumbo-Visma and Astana put riders on the front to help the chase but the breakaway fought on, giving the peloton a hide ride.

Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix was spared that duty by Walsleben presence in the break. Trek-Segafredo also contributed to the pursuit of the break, bringing the gap down to 3:30. The biggest blow to the break came when Scotson slowed and then suddenly got off his bike due to cramps. The talented Australian was unable to continue racing hard and drifted back to the peloton. Trek-Segafredo’s Jacopo Mosca leads the peloton through the finish area in Barolo as the bell rang for the final lap, some 2:15 down on the break. It would be a race all the way to the finish, with Team Ineos driving the chase but only 50 riders were left in the peloton for the hilly finale.

The catch came with nine kilometres to go and the race exploded a kilometre later, when Nibali attacked to set-up Ciccone. However Bennett and Moscon took over at the front and surged away. Bennett then dropped Moscon as the group exploded behind on the steep grades. The rain began as Bennett reached the summit of the climb but he did not look back or ease up, opening a 15-second gap on the chasers. The road turned dry and then wet again for the climb up to Barolo, with Bennett using his climbing skills to hold off the chase all the way to the finish.

Results :
1 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo – Visma 4:38:23
2 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
3 Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin – Fenix 0:00:04
4 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team
5 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
6 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
7 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
8 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott 0:00:07
9 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek – Segafredo
10 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
11 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Jumbo – Visma 0:00:09
12 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus – Wanty Gobert
13 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM
14 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
15 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start – Up Nation 0:00:14
16 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek – Segafredo 0:00:16
17 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:26
18 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
19 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
20 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
21 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:31
22 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:01:01
23 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling Team
24 Gino Mäder (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling Team
25 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:01:05
26 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
27 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Italy
28 Daniel Muñoz Giraldo (Col) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
29 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Start – Up Nation 0:01:08
30 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Team Ineos
31 Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team
32 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Israel Start – Up Nation
33 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Ineos 0:01:10
34 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:01:18
35 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek – Segafredo 0:01:26
36 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:01:37
37 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix 0:01:39
38 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM
39 Martin Marcellusi (Ita) Italy 0:01:53
40 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton – Scott 0:01:54
41 Mattia Bais (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
42 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
43 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:01:58
44 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM
45 Luca Colnaghi (Ita) Italy 0:02:06
46 Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den) Deceuninck – Quick – Step 0:03:21
47 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling Team 0:03:57
48 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM 0:04:12
49 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
50 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling Team
51 Petr Vakoč (Cze) Alpecin – Fenix
52 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton – Scott
53 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:04:23
54 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
55 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane 0:05:11
56 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo – Visma 0:05:16
57 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo – Visma
58 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin – Fenix 0:05:18
59 Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane 0:05:21
60 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Circus – Wanty Gobert
61 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:05:23
62 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus – Wanty Gobert 0:05:40
63 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck – Quick – Step 0:05:42
64 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:10
65 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek – Segafredo
66 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
67 Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
68 Samuele Rivi (Ita) Italy
69 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
70 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Jumbo – Visma
71 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix 0:07:30
72 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start – Up Nation 0:09:39
73 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo – Visma
74 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start – Up Nation 0:10:36
75 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin – Fenix
76 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
77 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
78 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team
79 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM
80 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane 0:14:24
81 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:45
82 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start – Up Nation 0:18:37
83 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
84 Matteo Spreafico (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM
85 Brandon Smith Rivera Vargas (Col) Team Ineos
86 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane
87 Mathias Norsgaard Jørgensen (Den) Movistar Team
88 Juan Diego Alba Bolivar (Col) Movistar Team
89 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start – Up Nation
90 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek – Segafredo
91 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
92 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek – Segafredo
93 Anton Kuzmin (Kaz) Gazprom – Rusvelo
94 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix
DNF Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane
DNF Francesco Romano (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane
DNF Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane
DNF Kamil Malecki (Pol) CCC Team
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
DNF Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
DNF Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
DNF Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton – Scott
DNF Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
DNF Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
DNF Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Italy
DNF Jonathan Milan (Ita) Italy
DNF Davide Plebani (Ita) Italy
DNF Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) NTT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Benjamin King (USA) NTT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Paul Martens (Ger) Jumbo – Visma
DNF Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Umberto Marengo (Ita) Vini Zabu KTM