In excellent condition following his participation in the Vuelta a España, Team Colombia-Coldeportes’ Carlos Julian Quintero went on the attack and was very close to finishing on the podium in Coppa Bernocchi, a one-day race which took place today.

The 29-year-old Colombian was fourth from a reduced group of six riders who broke clear in the race finale, which was won by Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) ahead of Mauro Finetto (Southeast) and Matteo Trentin (Italian National Team).

Coppa Bernocchi is a race, by tradition, for the sprinters, but the attackers were the real stars of today’s race: the first attempt came in the opening kilometers of the race, and among the ones who tried their luck were team stagiaire Felix Baron and Cayetano Sarmiento, the latter being part of a group of 24 cyclists which was neutralized after 50 kilometers.

Later, four riders went at the front – Emanuele Sella and Serghei Tvetcov (Androni), Edward Ravasi (Lampre) and Frederic Brun (Bretagne) – with Camilo Castiblanco in pursuit, but unfortunately the Colombian couldn’t catch them.

The four remained in command until the last lap of the circuit Valle Olona, when Vincenzo Nibali had first attacked, bringing three more riders over to the escapees before the peloton got back together. Then, 25 km from the end, Nibali attacked again, and this time Quintero, Finetto, Trentin, Jose Mendes (Bora-Argon) and Gianfranco Zilioli (Androni-Sidermec) responded. The six gained a maximum gap of just 40 seconds, but managed to keep an extremely high pace in the finale, and in the end fought for an unexpected chance to win.

“Before Nibali’s first acceleration, I already tried to go on a climb together with Gasparotto, but we got reeled in,” Quintero said. “Then, when Vincenzo went again, I knew I had to be there and I was the first to respond.”

“With 3 km to go, Mendes attacked, but we managed to get to him and stayed together until the last kilometer, when Nibali made his move. I was in second position with just 20 meters before the finish, but I was outsprinted by Finetto and Trentin. Despite of that, I’m happy: it’s obvious that I’m in good form coming from the Vuelta, although I’ve spent a lot of energy in Spain. Considering this was my last test before leaving for the World Championships in Richmond, I’m quite satisfied with how it went”, Quintero concluded.

Also Oscar Pellicioli, the team’s sports director, saw a positive side after the race:

“Today we did a strong race and we managed to be active all day long. Quintero was capable to respond to Nibali’s attacks and he deserves this good result after what was a very unpredictable race. Besides Carlos, also Edwin Avila and Daniel Martinez finished in the first group and showed good form which can bring them strong results in the season’s finale.”

Next race for Team Colombia-Coldeportes will be Memorial Marco Pantani, Saturday, September 19th.