Today, Diego Ulissi won the Coppa Sabatini in Italy. He finished ahead of Andrea Pasqualon (Bardiani Valvolve) and Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale). The Bardiani team was very active during the race.

The race saw Matteo Montagui (AG2R), Antonio Parrinello (Androni), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano) and Angelo Pagani (Bardiani) drive away from the peloton. Another Bardiani rider, Edoardo Zardini joined the breakaway after a pursuit together with Luigi Miletta (Vini-Fantini). But the winning team, Lampre-Merida railed in the breakaway and the race ended in a sprint.

Italian Diego Ulissi was unbeatable, but Andrea Pasqualon tried to follow him. He couldn’t catch Ulissi but his strong effort gave him a place on the podium as runner-up.

”These type of arrivals are very suitable for my skills and I was confidence about my possibilities today. I have to thank all my teammates who led out me very well in the last kilometers. About the sprint, Ulissi started his rush very early and I followed him. I tried to pass him in the last meters but I didn’t have enough space and so I finished second. It’s a pity because the victory was very close but anyway I’m satisfied of this podium and my performance. It was also important give “a signal” in Italy after my victory in France last August at Tour du Limousin”.

Direttore Sportivo Roberto Reverberi is very happy about the way the team showed themselves off and the strong podium place by Pasqualon.

”We planned on the team meeting that the riders we had chosen should drive the race aggressively and we did. Very good effort by Zardini and Pagani, who were participated in the early breakaway and Zardini was caught with only 25km to the finish line. Pirazzi tried, as we decided, to anticipate the sprint but Lampre – Merida bridged the gap, so we organized again for Pasualon’s sprint. He did a great rush and he arrived very close to win the race. At the end we achieved a good podium after a strong performance by the whole team”.