Sonny Colbrelli breaks down in tears after Paris-Nice stage two win

Bahrain-Merida's Sonny Colbrelli broke down in tears after winning his first race as part of a WorldTour team on stage two of Paris-Nice.

Credit: eurosport.co.uk
Colbrelli beat Trek Segafredo's John Degenkolb by half a wheel length after a long sprint that resulted in the 26-year-old Italian successfully fending off competition from yellow jersey wearer Arnaud Demare of FDJ, Lotto Fix ALL's Andre Greipel, Lotto NL-Jumbo's Dylan Groenewegen, Katusha-Alpecin's Alexander Kristoff, Cofidis' Christophe Laporte, Astana's Matti Breschel, AG2R La Mondiale's Oliver Naesen and Delko-Marseille Provence's Evaldas Siskevicius.

"It’s the greatest victory of my career," said Colbrelli. "It’s incredible. I managed a perfect sprint and to beat riders like Degenkolb or even Kittel just shows that. Of course I have Milan-San Remo in mind. Everyone knows that Paris-Nice is the perfect preparation for that race. But it’s not over yet, I still want to manage things this week."

Stage two took shape much the same as stage one, with horrible weather and riders in trouble from the get go on the 195km route from Rochefort-en-Yvelines to Amilly.

A large group of 20 riders got away after 50km, with the classics experience of Quick-Step pushing the pace. This group included the same big name sprinters as stage one; Greipel (Lotto Fix ALL), Kittel (Quick-Step) and Swift (UAE Team Emirates).

The pace of the front group eased with 60km to go and as more riders joined the group a bunch of six riders - Sven Erik Bystrom (Katusha-Alpecin), Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), Maarten Wynants (LottoNL-Jumbo), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko–Marseille Provence KTM) and Marc Sarreau (FDJ) - launched an attack, building a lead of over one minute for 20km.

 Gilbert decided to take advantage of the conditions to cause separation in his bid for a solo win at 17km to go. He'd only been on his own for a few kilometres before he encountered a block headwind, stopping him in his tracks and he was caught by the group he'd just attacked with six km left.

The race didn't spring into action until the final kilometre though, when Orica Scott's Michael Albasini launched a solo effort. The lead group, fronted by FDJ, successfully closed down the Swiss rider a few hundred metres later and began setting up for the sprint.

However the wind and rain was playing havoc with many riders, resulting in a very messy final 500 metres. Colbrelli led the bunch down the finishing straight and despite starting his sprint very early, hung on to add his first win with a WorldTour team to his palmares.

Demare retains the yellow jersey, with Quick-Step Floors' Julian Alaphilippe and Philippe Gilbert in second and third, six and 17 seconds behind respectively.

The big loser on the day was BMC Racing's Richie Porte who's now 15 minutes down. Trek Segafredo's Alberto Contador and Orica Scott's Simon Yates aren't completely out of it yet though, they are one minute 18 seconds down.

The only general classification contenders at this stage other than Alaphilippe are Quick-Step's Dan Martin and Team Sky's Sergio Henao, who lie in seventh and eighth respectively, after they managed to avoid the difficulties of the favourites were hit with on stage one.

Stage three is the penultimate sprint stage, 190km from Chablis to Chalon-sur-Saone. There are two small classified climbs en route however a sprinter should have no problem taking the win.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chris Froome's crash at the Giro is emblematic of the pressure he's under

Image
As pictures emerged of Team Sky's talisman picking himself up off the floor, covered in road rash with his training kit in tatters, you could feel the weight of  physical pressure to perform to such a high standard so early in the season pile on top of the existing  mental pressure of an unresolved dope test. The latter exists, no matter how much Froome and his team downplay the extent of the stress he's feeling. Chris Froome bears the scars of a crash in his course recon Photo credit: eurosport.co.uk Discussion has been rife ever since late last year when Chris Froome returned an adverse analytical finding for double the allowed level of salbutamol, but chatter over his eligibility to race has intensified ever since his team announced he would contest the 101st Giro d'Italia.  An alleged multi-million pound attendance fee probably played a part in their decision for the legendary Grand Tourer to take to the start line in Israel, but nevertheless, the improbable p
Read more

Simon Yates brilliantly solos to Paris-Nice stage six victory

Image
Orica-Scott's Simon Yates had 'nothing to lose' as he brilliantly soloed to victory in Fayence on stage six of Paris-Nice after attacking on the Col de Bourigaille to move up to eighth on general classification. Credit: velonews.com Yates shot off the front of the leading group with 19 kilometres to go and managed to make his attack stick, safely navigating the descent and expertly climbing the short yet horrendously steep ramp into Fayence to pick up his first ever victory on Paris-Nice and his first win of the season. "I had a small idea to try something but it was all depending on how I feel and the conditions," explained Yates, "It got to the moment and I said, 'Ah, why not, you've nothing to lose?! If I get caught, I get caught'. So I tried and I'm just happy that it worked!" Colombian champion, Sergio Henao (Team Sky), mounted a spirited effort to finish 17 seconds behind the leader, with Richie Porte (BMC Racing) and Juli
Read more

Elia Viviani's lack of strength on the small climbs could prevent him winning the maglia ciclamino

Image
Yesterday was earmarked as a boring, straight forward stage for a bunch sprint. It turned out to be anything but. As Sam Bennett left the rest of the field spluttering in his rooster tail on the soaking wet circuit at Imola, Elia Viviani was 145th and nine minutes behind. All thanks to bad weather and a small climb. Sam Bennett claims his second victory of the 2018 Giro d'Italia with jersey holder Elia Viviani minutes behind Photo credit: cyclingnews.com Flash back to 25th March this year, as Viviani sat hunched on the side of the road, sobbing, as a Quick-Step sougneur draped a jacket over his shoulders after narrowly losing to world champion Peter Sagan at Gent-Wevelgem. It wasn't so much of a huge surprise given the calibre of sprinters in the field, but with Quick-Step's dominance to that point in Belgian one-day races, you could empathise with the Italian for letting down a team that is set up primarily for success in the classics. As Team Sky is for Grand Tours.
Read more