Elia Viviani continued his great form and added another WorldTour race to his palmares with victory at the Bretagne Classic.
The Italian timed his sprint to perfection in Plouay, diving out from a tight gap in the pack and finding space along the left-hand side of the road. He edged out rivals Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) at the line to claim his fourth win in little over a week.
“We started with (Danny) van Poppel and Kwiato as leaders, but I was a co-leader just behind because I came here with I think the dream week – winning in Hamburg, two stages of Poitou Charentes and a few second places. It’s a good moment for me”, said Viviani.
“In the race I felt really good. We kept the lead with the team in the right time, when the roads were narrow and there was gravel on the road. It was dangerous but with 100km to go it was too far. But we controlled the race really well. It’s an amazing feeling to win two big races – two Classics – at the end of the season. The shape is more than the top – I think it’s the best shape of my life. Finally I’m on the level I want to be. I’m really happy and thanks to this amazing team.
“It’s really wonderful. After the Tour we’ve had a lot of big wins and these make a difference. Kwiato won San Sebastian and all the guys have done a great job.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mecrJry7fjU
Bretagne Classic 2017 results:
| 1 | Elia Viviani (Team Sky) | 5:51:39 |
| 2 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 3 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 4 | Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac) | ,, |
| 5 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 6 | Rúben Guerreiro (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 7 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 8 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 9 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 10 | Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) | ,, |
