Milano-Torino 2020 [FULL RACE]

August 5, 2020

Milano-Torino 2020 – Mesero – Stupinigi : 198 km

It’s Italy’s oldest bike race – having first been held in 1876 – but Milano-Torino takes on somewhat of a new look for 2020 this Wednesday, with a calendar shift forced by the UCI due to the coronavirus pandemic and a new role as a warm-up event for the coming weekend’s Milan-San Remo, as well as a significantly flatter, faster course than normal, which has served to attract many of the world’s best sprinters. Milano-Torino returned in 2012 after a five-year hiatus, and took up a new autumn slot, acting as one of the end-of-season Italian Classics that attract riders with form from the World Championships and those looking to save their seasons. It used to act as more of a sprinters’ race, and came, like it does again this year due to the necessary calendar shuffle, just ahead of Milan-San Remo, but it has been moved back and forth between spring and autumn slots multiple times during its history.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) delivered a fine sprint to claim victory at Milano-Torino ahead of Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and a fast-closing Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).

The Frenchman’s victory underscored his credentials for Milan-San Remo on Saturday, while the Strade Bianche winner Van Aert’s late surge was a further indication of his sparkling form ahead of the week’s main event.

A crash that briefly split the peloton with 8km to go made for a breathless finale, but Démare’s Groupama-FDJ squad was sufficiently organised to lead into the final kilometre, although it was Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) who opened the sprint with an effort from distance. The three-time world champion faded to fourth in the closing metres, however, as Démare streaked past and then held off Ewan to claim the spoils.

With Milano-Torino falling just three days before La Classicissima on the revised UCI calendar, the route of the event was altered accordingly, with the uphill finale in Superga removed in favour of a pan flat run to Stupinigi that afforded Démare to emulate his teammate Thibaut Pinot as a winner of the race.

“The calendar was a bit thrown out by the current situation, but it’s good to be racing again and I had a very good return to competition at the Vuelta a Burgos,” Démare said. “The team was very good, and we knew today was a good chance for us.

“We really know one another very well, and that’s a good thing. We did a three-week camp and the whole team was in good form, Burgos confirmed that. We’re not afraid of anyone. I feel very well.”

A bunch finish was always the likely outcome in Stupinigi, site of the 18th-century hunting lodge of the House of Savoy, and the race largely followed the anticipated script, though there was late drama when several riders came down in a crash after Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck-QuickStep) clipped a traffic island on the run-in. Sam Bennett also lost Michael Mørkøv in the incident – though, unlike Lampaert, the Dane was able to finish the race – and the Irish champion sat up in the finishing straight to place outside the top 10.

He was not the only fast man left with too much ground to recoup in the finishing straight, with with Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) having to settle for 6th and 7th, respectively. They will hope for better at Milan-San Remo on Saturday. Démare, winner in 2016 and third in 2018, has already shown his pedigree on the Via Roma. His turn of pace in Stupinigi was an indication of his form – but so, too, was Van Aert’s.

“It’s one of my very big ambitions, I’m not going to hide that,” Démare said. “The team is good and I feel good.”

How it unfolded

Milano-Torino has oscillated between Spring and Autumn for much of its history, but the revised 2020 season saw the oldest extant bicycle race in the world shift to an August date as the calendar was hastily rearranged around the rescheduled Classics and Grand Tours.

This summertime Milano-Torino was not an entirely new departure. The first-ever edition was held in May 1876, after all, and in its intermittent early history, the event was held in the warmer months, before settling on a firmer, pre-Milan-San Remo slot in the 1930s.

In more recent times, Milano-Torino has largely – though not exclusively – been part of the rosy-hued preamble to the grand finale of the Italian season, Il Lombardia, with a route carefully tailored to match. Since its return to the calendar after a four-year hiatus in 2012, the finish line had been perched upon the hill of Superga overlooking Turin.

With Milano-Torino stitched into the 2020 calendar ahead of Saturday’s Milan-San Remo, however, the route was altered to fit the circumstances. Superga was excised from the parcours, with the gruppo only gently skirting the hills of Monferrato en route to the Piemontese capital.

A bunch sprint seemed preordained when the peloton assembled at the start in Mesero, just west of Milan, but that didn’t deter a determined group of attackers forging clear inside the opening 20km.

Andrea Garosio (Vini Zabù-KTM), Manuele Boaro (Astana), Davide Villella (Movistar), Gijs Van Hoecke (CCC), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Samuele Rivi (Italy) established a maximum buffer of 7 minutes after 50km before the sprinters’ teams began to bring in the hem of their advantage.

Deceuninck-QuickStep, Lotto Soudal, Groupama-FDJ, Arkéa-Samsic, Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates all contributed to the pursuit at various points, an arrangement that seemed to suit all parties. The sprinters were effectively guaranteed their shot at victory at Stupinigi, while men like Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) were able to bank 200, brisk kilometres of racing in agreeable sunshine as they build towards Milan-San Remo at the weekend.

The break’s advantage began to unravel gently as the race passed through the wine country in the hinterland of Asti and their lead was a threadbare 1:45 by the time they reached the final 40km. Garosio sat up shortly afterwards, and though his five erstwhile companions looked to delay the inevitable, their lead had shrunk to within a minute with 20km remaining.

The break fragmented shortly afterwards, when Samuele Rivi, the 22-year-old of the Italian national team attacked, bringing the strongman of the move, Manuele Boaro, with him. Boaro pressed on alone with 11km to go, by which point his lead had slipped to just 27 seconds and he was swept up soon afterwards.

A mass sprint ensued. Démare hit all the right lines ahead of Milan-San Remo, but in this singular season, all will have benefited from the dress rehearsal.

Results :
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 4:18:57
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3 Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
6 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
7 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
8 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
9 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
10 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
11 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
12 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
13 Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
14 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation
15 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
16 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
17 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
18 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
19 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
20 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
21 Martin Marcellusi (Ita) Italy
22 Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
23 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:05
24 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
25 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Ineos
26 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
27 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
28 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:08
29 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:15
30 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:18
31 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:22
32 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
33 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:00:25
34 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
35 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
36 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
37 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Italy
38 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
39 Leonardo Marchiori (Ita) Italy
40 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
41 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:28
42 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:32
44 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:35
45 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:39
46 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:45
47 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:47
48 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:49
49 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:24
50 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
51 Nicola Venchiarutti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
52 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
53 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:01:27
54 Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
55 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
56 Filippo Conca (Ita) Italy
57 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
58 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Italy
59 Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
60 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
61 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation
62 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
63 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
64 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team
66 Stepan Kuriyanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
67 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
68 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
69 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
70 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
71 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
72 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
73 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos
75 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Italy
76 Nicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
77 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
78 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
79 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
80 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
81 Imerio Cima (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
82 Mathias Norsgaard Jørgensen (Den) Movistar Team
83 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R la Mondiale
84 Francisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) CCC Team
85 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
86 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
87 Alessandro Iacchi (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
88 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
89 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
90 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
91 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
92 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
93 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
94 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
95 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
96 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
97 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
98 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
99 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
100 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
101 Jasper De Plus (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
102 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
103 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
104 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) CCC Team
105 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
106 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
107 Alfdan De Decker (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
108 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
109 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
110 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
111 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
112 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
113 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
114 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
115 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
116 Florian Vachon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
117 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
118 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
119 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:37
120 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
121 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:01:40
122 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:44
123 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:49
124 Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:45
125 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
126 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
127 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
128 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
129 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
130 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:03:04
131 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:07
132 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
133 Romain Le Roux (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
134 Samuele Rivi (Ita) Italy 0:04:32
135 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
136 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
137 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:07
138 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
139 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:05:19
140 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:05:55
141 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:06:20
142 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:06:59
143 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:09
144 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Team Ineos 0:12:05
145 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:41
146 Clement Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNS Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo