Italian wins first race since crashing out of Paris-Roubaix; builds form heading into Giro
After a mixed-bag Classics season, which saw him follow an impressive second in the Tour of Flanders with a disappointing showing in Paris-Roubaix, Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) has grabbed his first win of the season in the GP Industria & Artigianato-Larciano on Saturday.
The Italian took the UCI 1.1 Tuscany-flavoured race ahead of Fabio Taborre (Acqua & Sapone) and Kristian Durasek (Adria Mobil), who rounded out the podium.
Just days after his Farnese Vini-Selle Italia team announced that he would share leadership of the squad with Oscar Gatto in the Giro d’Italia, Pozzato justified the confidence in him that has sometimes wavered, with a solid win coming off his up-and-down spring campaign.
“Lap by lap I felt better and I believed in my chances on the last climb,” Pozzato said at the finish. “In the last part, I controlled my opponents and I didn’t do anything wrong in the sprint. This success is even more incentive to do better at the Giro, since it is our next goal.”
Pozzato talked about coming back from his broken collarbone, an injury he suffered in the early spring, but one that he was able to put behind him very quickly. He returned to Milan-Sanremo in relatively good condition and took a solid sixth place. He then was able to thrive on the redesigned Ronde van Vlaanderen course, losing out on the win in the sprint with Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).
“[After the broken collarbone], I needed to recover my condition quickly, which I did and I had a good season in the northern races,” Pozzato said. “Now I’m working for the Giro, since it’s a race in which our team wants to do really well.”
Farnese Vini is not likely to make much of an assault on the general classification at the Giro d’Italia, and it brings more of a Classics-themed squad to the Italian Grand Tour, centered around Pozzato and Gatto. Though they will be leading out sprinter Andrea Guardini in some of the flat finishes, this could open more opportunities and lessen the pressure on Pozzato in particular.
According to the 30-year-old, he will spend the week leading up to the race training with team-mates Francesco Failli and Elia Favilli, with team boss Luca Scinto guiding the work.
Scinto also commented on what Pozzato’s win does for both the rider and the director.
“It started this winter, understanding the man before the athlete, and then persuading him to follow me,” Scinto remarked. “But this is the first result of a season that has started well, even with his collarbone problem. Now we put our attention on the Tour of Italy.”
Result GP Industria & Artigianato-Larciano
1. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia
2. Fabio Taborre (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
3. Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Adria Mobil
4. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox
5. Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Team Idea
6. Sergey Firsanov (Rus) RusVelo
7. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale @ 7s
8. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox
9. Carlos Betancur (Col) Acqua & Sapone
10. Matteo Rabottini (ItA) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia @ 1’20”