Tre Valli Varesine 2018 [FULL RACE]

October 09, 2018

Tre Valli Varesine 2018 – Saronno – Varese : 212 km

The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which consists of three races held around the region of Lombardy on three consecutive days. These races are Tre Valli Varesine, Coppa Ugo Agostoni and Coppa Bernocchi.

Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) claimed victory at the 2018 Tre Valli Varesine, winning from a group of seven that arrived at the line in Varese.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) opened the sprint but was unable to match Skujins’ finishing speed and had to settle for second place, while Peter Kennaugh (Bora-Hansgrohe), who had launched a solo bid for victory several kilometres previously, took the final spot on the podium.

Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First-Drapac) had attacked from the peloton and caught and breezed past Kennaugh on the final incline, but he was joined for the slightly downhill final few kilometres by Pinot and his own teammate Michael Woods, with Skujins, Kennaugh, Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), and Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), jumping on board, having been part of earlier attacks.

Urán led the way in the final kilometre to keep a chase group containing Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) at bay, and while he succeeded in doing so, Woods was unable to make an impact in the sprint as Skujins ripped down the right-hand side of the road before punching the air.

The one-day race, part of a string of autumn Italian Classics and the third and final instalment of the Trittico Lombardo series, centred on two circuits around Varese, with six laps of ‘the short circuit’ – a 12.6km loop over the Montello climb (1.7km at 5.5%) – and two laps of ‘the long circuit’ – a 21.2km loop that took in the Montello and then another climb to Morosolo (1.7km at 7.6%).

Skujins and Frank, were in a trio – along with Robert Power (Mitchelton-Scott) – that went clear on the final part of the first of the long laps, and they were joined after the bell by Kennaugh and Kelderman, as well as Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Ivan Santaromita (Nippo Vini Fantini).

Power attacked on the final climb up Morosolo and Kennaugh was the next to chance his arm over the other side but, with the peloton close at hand, Urán ripped across and looked commanding as he passed the escapees and dropped Kennaugh on a subsequent incline. Pinot was the one to respond from the bunch and he made his way across with Woods in tow, as Skujins, Kelderman, Kennaugh, and Frank tagged along.

There was little chasing force in the vastly reduced peloton behind, and the seven riders entered the final few hundred metres with a sufficient advantage, with Skujins collecting his fourth victory of his best season to date with a convincing sprint.

How it unfolded

It was a fast start to proceedings, with 48 kilometres covered in an attacking first hour of racing. It took 35km for a proper breakaway to form, and it contained Matteo Bono (UAE Team Emirates), Michael Storer (Team Sunweb), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF), Edoardo Zardini (Willier Triestina-Selle Italia) and Paolo Toto (Sangemini – MG Kvis). The escapees opened up a lead of nearly nine minutes on the flat opening section of the route, but the gap steadily decreased on the climb to Castello Cabiaglio (7.2km at 3.5 per cent) and the descent towards Varese.

The breakaway riders crossed the finished line for the first time with a lead of five minutes but that was reduced to three minutes after two laps of the short circuit and to 1:30 after four laps. Just ahead of the final lap, with just over 50km remaining in total, the race ignited as some big names attacked from the peloton and made their way over to the head of the race.

Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Leo Vincent (Groupama-FDJ), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andrea Bagioli (UAE Team Emirates), Floris De Tier (LottoNL-Jumbo), Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) were the first to go, while Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) and Sebastien Reichenbach) left it a little later but soon made it across. All of the breakaway riders, with the exception of Zardini, fell away, leaving 13 riders at the head of affairs.

Those 13 finished the last of the short laps and crossed the finish line for the start of the two long laps with a lead of 35 seconds, but EF-Drapac set a strong tempo at the head of the bunch and the escapees were reeled in on the Morosolo climb.

That sparked attacks on the slightly downhill final part of the first lap, and Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), and Robert Power (Mitchelton-Scott) succeeded in getting away to take the bell in the lead, though they were soon joined by five counter-attackers: Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Ivan Santaromita (Nippo Vini Fantini). Latecomer Peter Kennaugh (Bora-Hansgrohe) then bridged across to make it nine out front with a slim advantage heading into the final 20km.

On the final ascent of Montello the hostilities kicked off behind, with David Gaudu (FDJ) producing an acceleration to which Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) immediately responded, with many of the favourites jumping to force a brief split of around 20. Rigoberto Urán (EF-Drapac) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) both led the reduced bunch down the descent, and the attacks continued on the flatter roads, with Guillaume Boivin (Israel Academy) dangling in front with Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) for a while.

The nine leaders hit the final climb of Morosolo with a lead of around 20 seconds, and Power piled on the pressure. First he created a selection, dropping Santaromita, Buchmann, Visconti, and Tolhoek and kicked again to lead solo over the top of the climb. Power was soon reeled in, and Kennaugh in turn went on a solo attack ahead of a secondary incline.
By this point the peloton was close at hand, and Urán went on the attack.

He quickly made his way over to the dropped breakaway riders before reaching Kennaugh and breezing past the Briton. The response came from Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), who closed the gap with Uran’s teammate Michael Woods on the wheel. Skujins, Kennaugh, Frank, and Kelderman also produced second efforts to make what turned out to be the decisive selection.

Valverde was in the group behind, racing in the world champion’s jersey for the first time, and so was Nibali, but they were unable to claw their way back, leaving the leading seven to sprint it out and Skujins to emerge victorious.

Results :
1 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 4:55:41
2 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
3 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
5 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
6 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
7 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:04
8 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:13
9 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
10 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
11 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
12 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
13 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
14 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
15 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
16 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Davide Vilella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
18 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
19 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
20 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
21 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
22 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
23 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
24 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:01:02
25 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
26 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
27 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
28 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
29 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
30 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
31 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
32 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF
33 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
34 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
35 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
36 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
37 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
38 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
39 Sebastian Shonberger (Aut) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
40 Matteo Badilatti (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
41 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:04
42 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
43 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
44 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:06
45 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
46 Marco Tizza (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:01:38
47 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
48 Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir
49 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:40
50 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:43
51 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:52
52 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
53 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
54 Mirko Trosino (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir
55 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
56 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
57 Davide Gaburro (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir
58 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
59 David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ
60 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
61 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
62 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
63 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
64 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
65 Awet Andemeskel (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
66 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
67 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:10
68 Michele Gazzara (Ita) Sangemini-Mg. K Vis-Vega 0:04:26
69 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
70 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
71 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:42
72 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Trevigiani Phonix-Hemus 1896
73 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
74 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
75 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:06:23
76 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
77 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:06:48
78 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:07:34
79 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:03
80 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
81 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
82 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
83 Ivan Martinelli (Ita) D’Amico Utensilnord 0:08:06
84 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:10:18
85 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
86 Antonio Di Sante (Ita) Sangemini-Mg. K Vis-Vega
87 Andrea Garosio (Ita) D’Amico Utensilnord
88 Dario Puccioni (Ita) Sangemini-Mg. K Vis-Vega
89 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
90 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
91 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
DNF José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
DNF Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ
DNF Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
DNF Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Gregory Daniel (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF José Fernandes Neves (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Cyrus Monk (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Dimension Data
DNF Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Danilo Celano (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Justin Oien (USA) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Roman Maikin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Evgeny Kobernyak (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Vladislav Kulikov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
DNF Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
DNF Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
DNF Nicholas Rinaldi (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
DNF Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
DNF Zahiri Abderrahim (Mar) Trevigiani Phonix-Hemus 1896
DNF Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Trevigiani Phonix-Hemus 1896
DNF Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Trevigiani Phonix-Hemus 1896
DNF German Nicolas Tivani Perez (Arg) Trevigiani Phonix-Hemus 1896
DNF Filippo Zana (Ita) Trevigiani Phonix-Hemus 1896
DNF Colin Chris Stüssi (Swi) Amore & Vita-Prodir
DNF Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir
DNF Antonio Zullo (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir
DNF Michele Corradini (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir
DNF Nicola Gaffurini (Ita) Sangemini-Mg. K Vis-Vega
DNF Paolo Totò (Ita) Sangemini-Mg. K Vis-Vega
DNF Francesco Bettini (Ita) D’Amico Utensilnord
DNF Ettore Carlini (Ita) D’Amico Utensilnord
DNF Emanuele Onesti (Ita) D’Amico Utensilnord
DNS Luca Colnaghi (Ita) Sangemini-Mg. K Vis-Vega