Manuel Belletti denied repeat win after crash disrupted finale
Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) won the 93rd edition of the Coppa Bernocchi, the third race in the Trittico Lombardo, in Legnano, northern Italy. Having taken his first victory of the season in his very first race – the opening stage of the Etoile de Besseges – after a bout of appendicitis in May, the Belarusian sprinter finally took his second, outsprinting 2010 race winner Manuel Belletti (Colnago-CSF Inox) and Italian champion Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli).
“He had to work hard to win a race like this,” explained FDJ director sportif Franck Pineau. “At halfway, there was a circuit to cover five times and a difficult hill, the Piccolo Stelvio, to climb many times. Many sprinters were left behind, only 70 riders began the final flat part but ‘Huta’ was there!”
With so many of the sprinters left behind on the hilly circuit, the FDJ team came to the front to make sure they were unable to get back on again. Into the finish though, it was Visconti who led, winding up the sprint for Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli teammate Oscar Gatto. A crash just a few riders back, involving Gatto and Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD), saw just a few riders at the head of the race.
Visconti switched from lead out man to sprinter to try to take the victory himself, but Hutarovich and Belletti came past the Italian champion as they hit the line.
“There was a crash and I had to re-launch in the final metres,” explained Belletti. “I’m not making excuses but I was a little blocked and, despite everything, I could pass Visconti right on the finish line to take second place.
“It’s a shame about the missed opportunity and double that was within my reach.”
After his appendicitis kept Hutarovich away from the Tour de France, the Belarusian took the FDJ team’s first win in Italy since Bradley McGee won the 2004 Giro d’Italia prologue.