All year Sonny Colbrelli was so close to that elusive first professional victory but it always seemed to elude him and he finished in the top 5 no less than 12 times before he finally broke his drought in last week's Tour de Slovenie. Today he added the Giro dell'Appennino to his tally, a win he sees as a confirmation of his potential.

It is a well-known fact that the first victory is the hardest one and that things get a bit easier when the ball has started to roll. Sonny Colbrelli can certainly confirm this as an incredible string of near-misses has now given way for two victories in a row.

Last week Colbrelli broke his drought that had included 12 top 5 results in the first part of the season, when he beat Michael Matthews and Grega Bole in the second stage of the Tour de Slovenie. The maiden victory was taken in a race that suited him perfectly as a tough climb left him as the fastest rider in a select group.

Today he made use of those same skills to win the Giro dell’Appennino which was held on a hilly course in the Appennines. After the main climb of the day, the Passo della Bocchetta, he had missed the 14-rider selection and found himself with teammate Enrico Battaglin in a second group of 10 riders.

Contributing to the work himself, Colbrelli made it back to the front group that already contained his teammates Edorardo Zardini and Angelo Pagani, meaning that Bardiani had 4 riders in a 24-rider group. They couldn’t prevent another 18 riders from making the junction but they took control of the situation to make sure that it all came down to a sprint from a select 42-rider group.

It contained several fast riders like Grega Bole, Miguel Rubiano, Simone Ponzi (Neri Sottoli) and Andrea Pasqualon (Aero Zero) but they were no match to Colbrelli who took a clear victory ahead of Bole and Rubiano while his teammate Battaglin managed to hold onto 7th despite working as a lead-out man. The result in another great triumph for Bardiani that won two stages in Slovenia and three stages in the Giro d’Italia.

”The win in Slovenie was a turning point and today I had the  confirmation," he said. "I believed in this success and the whole team did so too. They were really strong. In the finale we handled the race in a perfect way. When it was my time, I followed Bole and passed him with 250m to go. The team is in great shape and I am confident that we will be super at the Italian championships this weekend."

"We knew that we were the favourites but to live up to expectations is always hard," sports director Roberto Reverberi said. "Today we made the race as we had planned it in the morning. On the Bocchetta we had two riders in the leading group but they didn't do any work. When Colbrelli, Battaglin and Pirazzi bridged, we started to work on the front.

"When a third group joined them, we didn't panic but just continued to follow out tactics. Colbrelli was smart and waited to the right moment because the finishing straight was slightly ascending and it wasn't an easy sprint. He took a convincing win and showed what we have said since February: that Sonny just had to win the first one and then things would become easier."