After chasing it throughout the season, Eleonora Gasparrini finally celebrated her first victory of the year, taking a well-deserved win at the Tre Valli Varesine Women’s Race.
The 24-year-old Italian rider of UAE Team L’IMAD outsprinted Canada’s Sarah van Dam (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) on the finish line in Varese, while Switzerland’s Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) completed the podium in third place.
The victory marks a second consecutive success in the race for UAE Team L’IMAD, following Elisa Longo Borghini’s triumph last year.
After the first long breakaway of the day was brought back, some of the race’s leading contenders moved into action. A seven-rider group went clear, with Dutch rider Karlijn Swinkels making the move for UAE Team L’IMAD.
With 30 kilometres to go, approaching the penultimate ascent of the Montello, Swinkels attacked together with Czech rider Nikola Noskova (Cofidis), forming a new leading duo. The two riders built an advantage of around 40 seconds, but the peloton gradually closed the gap in the closing kilometres, with UAE Team L’IMAD holding the numerical advantage and keeping the race firmly under control at the front.
The two leaders were caught just before the final kilometre. Silvia Persico moved onto Gasparrini’s wheel and delivered a perfect lead-out, launching her teammate into the sprint. Gasparrini finished the job in convincing fashion to claim the victory.
There was also a strong result for young Giada Silo, who finished eighth.
Eleonora Gasparrini said: “I’m really happy. I think we played it very well as a team. Swinkels did a great job getting into the breakaway. Maybe we were missing one more rider from our team in there, but she was really brilliant and managed the situation very well. In the finale, we kept the pace very high and I tried to hang on. When we caught the breakaway, my teammates gave me a perfect lead-out and I just had to finish it off. I’m really happy, and I definitely want to dedicate this victory to David [David Facciano, the Argentine masseur of UAE Team L’IMAD who passed away suddenly after a medical emergency last Sunday].”
(ph. Getty Sport)
