Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) sprinted to victory at Coppa Sabatini ahead of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Francesco Gavazzi (Androni-Sidermec) to make an all-Italian podium.
Seven riders formed an early breakaway and rode to a maximum advantage of 6 minutes but with 10 kilometers to go they were caught by the chasing pack.
Andrea Pasqualon was brought to the sprint in ideal circumstances by his teammates and he was able to beat Colbrelli, Gavazzi and Ulissi in order to take his first 2017 victory, his first one in the Wanty-Groupe Gobert colours.
“Today was just fantastic. This morning I woke up with a good feeling and strong legs. In the team meeting sports director Steven De Neef gave me the leader’s role and my teammates wanted to commit to this job. The team worked 100% perfect for me all day long. They chased the breakaway and put me in a good position for the sprint.”, said Pasqualon.
“In the final uphill kilometer I was ideally placed in the wheel of Colbrelli. I launched my sprint with 250 meters to go and Colbrelli wasn’t able to pass me anymore.”
“I worked very hard and it was important to bring home today’s victory after a lot of top 5 sprints. It was fantastic to bring my young kid on the podium. I also win the Challenge Alfredo Martini (classification of the three past Italian race days) before Martin.”
Coppa Sabatini 2017 results:
| 1 | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) | 4:44:04 |
| 2 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain – Merida) | ,, |
| 3 | Francesco Gavazzi (Androni – Sidermec) | ,, |
| 4 | Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 5 | Eduard Prades (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 6 | Elia Viviani (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 7 | Guillaume Martin (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 8 | Marco Canola (Nippo – Vini Fantini) | ,, |
| 9 | Nicola Gaffurini (Sangemini – MG.Kvis) | ,, |
| 10 | Mattia Cattaneo (Androni – Sidermec) | ,, |
