Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos, France) won Gran Piemonte on 8 October, in a sprint of 3, in 4h06’19”. Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility, Denmark) was second, Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana Team, Italy) third.
The race
Gran Piemonte started from Asti. A small group of escapees went clear early, with Davide Ballerini among the names. In the peloton, UAE Team Emirates XRG kept control of the race, helped by Bahrain Victorious and Jayco.
On the finishing circuit the break fell apart. Valentin Ferron, Brieuc Rolland and Santiago Umba stayed out in front longer than the rest, then were caught one after another, when the climb of La Morra was already close.
The race was decided right there, on the last passage over La Morra, around twenty kilometres from the finish. UAE stopped pulling and many attacked: Leemreize and Powless, then Trouvain. Every move was shut down. Then Jhonatan Narvaez accelerated and straight after Isaac Del Toro, the defending champion, went.
Only Fisher-Black, of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, went with Del Toro. The two built a lead of around thirty seconds. Fisher-Black lost contact on an acceleration, but got back on the descent. At that point the two had to decide how to play the race against a chasing group that was closing in.
The peloton caught them 1.4 kilometres from the line. Del Toro had been trying to become the first since Philippe Gilbert, in 2010, to win two editions in a row. He did not manage it. Movistar was pulling under the last-kilometre banner, then a crash, in the final 200 metres, broke up the sprint.
Three emerged: Godon, Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) and Bettiol (XDS Astana). Godon, 30 years old, beat the Dane on the line in Bra, with Bettiol third, all with the same time of 4h06’19”. The chasing group came in at 2” and left Britain’s Lukas Nerurkar fourth.
For Godon it is another win in an autumn that is already a good one: a few days ago he had won the Giro del Lazio. He is the first Frenchman to win Gran Piemonte since at least 2018, and the oldest winner in that time.
The first of the Italians is Alberto Bettiol, XDS Astana Team, 3rd with the same time as the winner. 144 riders finished out of 162 starters.
How they finished
The top ten
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorian Godon | Netcompany Ineos | 4h06’19” |
| 2 | Anthon Charmig | Uno-X Mobility | s.t. |
| 3 | Alberto Bettiol | XDS Astana Team | s.t. |
| 4 | Lukas Nerurkar | EF Education-Easypost | +2″ |
| 5 | Quinten Hermans | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | +2″ |
| 6 | Fred Wright | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | +2″ |
| 7 | Afonso Eulálio | Bahrain Victorious | +2″ |
| 8 | Michael Matthews | Team Jayco Alula | +2″ |
| 9 | Jhonatan Narvaez | UAE Team Emirates XRG | +2″ |
| 10 | Pau Marti Soriano | NSN Cycling Team | +2″ |
The race in numbers
- Selection index
- 0 out of 100 Of 144 finishers: 55 within 30 seconds of the winner, 93 within 2 minutes, 142 within 10 minutes (him included). It runs from 0, a bunch sprint, to 98, a solo finish.
News written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Photo: Hugo LUC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
