After 12 top 5 results in 2014, Sonny Colbrelli finally took his first professional victory when he beat Michael Matthews in the sprint at the end of today's second stage of the Tour de Slovenie. The win came as a huge relief for the talented Italian who has been so close to that elusive victory for several months.

Going into the Tour de Slovenie, Sonny Colbrelli had finished in the top 5 no less than 12 times in the 2014 season but for some reason that elusive first professional victory seemed to always elude the talented Italian. Today he finally broke his drought when he won the second stage of the Tour de Slovenie.

The win came in a race that suited Colbrelli’s characteristics. A hard category 1 climb in the finale was set to whittle down the peloton significantly and when the pure sprinters are left behind, the Italian is usually one of the fastest.

Colbrelli dug deep to make it over the top of the climb with the best and so was part of the 36-rider group that roared towards the finish. A few riders tried to escape in the finale but Colbrelli's Bardiani teammates took control and ensured a sprint finish. Finally, Enrico Battaglin led out his teammate for the elusive victory.

"Finally I have taken the win," he said. "I have chased this victory in a lot of races and it is a relief. I know that I had come out of the Giro d'Italia in good condition and yesterday in the opening time trial I had good feeling (he was 21st, ed.) Today my teammates and I believed very much in the win and they supported me in the best possible way. Enrico did a really good lead-out and today there was no way I could miss the win."

”We are really happy for Sonny," sports director Mirko Rossato said. "No one deserved to win more than him. He has been close since Etoile de Besseges in February and we are really pleased that he finally succeeded. He did a perfect sprint, he was smart and focused. In this way he beat a top rider like Matthews. Congrats to him and the whole squad that did a super stage."