Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) claimed his 15th win of the season at Tre Valli Varesine, coming out on top of a closely-contested sprint finish ahead of Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
The Slovenian had followed moves in the final, appearing content to wait for the sprint finish, and he duly showed his top form ahead of Il Lombardia at the weekend. Pogačar prevailed from a select group of contenders who had emerged at the head of the race on the hilly closing circuits in Varese.
In a long sprint to the line at the end of a 196km race which took in 25 major hills, Pogačar had just about enough to edge out Higuita and Valverde, coming down the right-hand side of the road to secure his fifth career win in a one-day race.
Attacks had come and gone throughout the finale – including notable moves from Jumbo-Visma stagiaire Thomas Gloag and Astana Qazaqstan’s retiring Vincenzo Nibali – but still a group of around 20 men came to the line to contest the win.
Enric Mas (Movistar), who had beaten Pogačar at the weekend’s Giro dell’Emilia, led out the sprint for Valverde following one last acceleration on the final hill, but it was Pogačar who came out on top in the head-to-head-to-head finish.
How it unfolded
The Italian autumn Classics continued on Tuesday with the Tre Valli Varesine, a 196km race through the hills around Varese in Lombardy.
The race would begin with a 40km run north from Busto Arsizio, followed by eight laps of a local circuit, taking in the Casbeno and Montello hills. The final would bring two laps of an extended circuit, adding the Morosolo and Casciago, and giving the riders 25 hills in total to tackle before the uphill run to the finish at Casbeno.
It would take over 20km for the break of the day to be formed, with moves by Daryl Impey (Israel-Premier Tech) and Quinten Hermans (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) initiating the breakaway.
The pair were joined out front by Mark Christian (Eolo-Kometa), Mathias Vacek (Trek-Segafredo), Mattéo Vercher (Team TotalEnergies), Mattia Bais (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), Héctor Carretero (Equipo Kern Pharma), Johan Meens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and Samuele Zoccarato (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè).
Movistar, Astana Qazaqstan, and AG2R Citroën were among the teams controlling the peloton as the race hit the circuits and the climbing began, with the breakaway managing to make it three minutes up the road.
Heading into the…
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