Brent Bookwalter of the BMC Racing Team finished seventh in the small bunch sprint that capped Trofeo Laigueglia Thursday.

Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) took the win as Bookwalter and teammate Darwin Atapuma, who was 20th, both finished in the leading group of the 191.8-kilometer race in their first European race of the season. Francesco Gavazzi (Southeast) was runner-up and Alexey Tsatevich (Team Katusha) finished third.

"For being the first time most of us have raced together and being the start of our European season, it went OK," Bookwalter said. "The guys did a good job of taking care of me and we are learning how each other rides. I was optimistic I could do a good sprint in the reduced group. But in hindsight, I waited a moment too long and was basically forced to coast across the line as I could not find an opening."

Former world road champion Philippe Gilbert did not take the start after announcing Wednesday he was suffering from an upset stomach.