Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) claimed his first professional victory on stage 1 of the Giro di Sicilia thanks to a rasping acceleration on the hilltop finish in Agrigento.
The New Zealander led much of the way up the short climb, ostensibly on behalf of his UAE Team Emirates companion Diego Ulissi. With a shade over a kilometre to go, however, Ulissi smartly allowed a gap to open behind Fisher-Black, who proceeded to power clear.
With no one team willing to take up the pursuit behind, Fisher-Black quickly established a winning margin, and he came home 8 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa), who won the sprint for second ahead of Ulissi.
2022 Giro di Sicilia winner Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) took fourth ahead of Alexey Lutsenko.
“Not at all,” Fisher-Black said when asked if his victory had been planned. “I was also expecting Diego to have a strong finish. All I was meant to do was pull into the bottom of the climb and go as far as I could. I looked back at one point, and no one was there. The DS on the radio just said, ‘go,’ so I just looked down and kept going. It definitely wasn’t the plan so I’m still in a bit of shock.”
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