Norway’s Sakarias Koller Løland closed the European road season with a big ole win at the Veneto Classic on Sunday. Løland out-sprinted a reduced lead group to take his first professional win. Gravel world champion Florian Vermeersch finished runner-up, while Italy’s Diego Ulissi took third.
World champ debut
The 197-km race set off from Soave and finished in Bassano del Grappa. It is a tough course– tackling a series of short, punishing climbs and gravel sectors. That included the key and brutal Diesel Farm ascent and the steep Strada Soarda in the closing kilometres. Pre-race favourites such as Romain Grégoire, Christian Scaroni, Marc Hirschi and Pavel Sivakov were expected to shape the finale. However, an early breakaway of 19 riders ultimately decided the race.
Vermeersch, Xandro Meurisse and Dylan Teuns were there—along with experienced riders like Davide De Pretto and Ulissi. Attempts from behind, including a chase by Sivakov and later Tim Wellens, failed to make contact as the gap stabilized at under two minutes.
As the break thinned out on the gravel climbs, De Pretto initiated the first major attack, only for Ulissi to counter and momentarily gain daylight. A technical descent reshuffled the front, bringing Vermeersch, De Pretto, Lorenzo Germani and Løland back into contention.
Germani briefly led over the final rise, but was reeled in with two kilometres to go. Ulissi clawed back in the last 600 metres to set up a four-man sprint, yet it was Løland who seized his moment, launching early through the twisting approach and holding off Vermeersch on the uphill drag to the line.
For Løland, 24, of Uno-X Mobility, the win caps a season that already included success at the Ringerike GP and follows his 2023 triumph at the under-23 Paris–Tours. Vermeersch, fresh off his gravel world title, was left to settle for second, unable to close the gap in the final metres.
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