Evgeny Shalunov (Lokoshinx) again confirmed that he is ready to join the professional ranks when he won the big Italian one-day race Trofeo Matteotti. Part of a reduced peloton that reached the finish in Pescara, he surprised the sprinters with a late solo attack and he managed to hold his chasers off to take the win before Andrea Pasqualon (Roth Skoda) beat Davide Vigano (Idea) in the sprint for second.

Evgeny Shalunov may not be a household name in the professional cycling world but it is a good idea to keep an eye on the 23-year-old Russian. 2015 has been a breakthrough for the talented Russian who has been in the mix in virtually every big Spanish race.

He was second in Klasika Primavera, 11th in Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and 6th in Vuelta a Asturias but it was the Vuelta Comunidad de Madrid that really marked him out. The talented Lokosphinx rider won the queen stage and the overall to put his name on the shortlist of many teams.

Today he continued his impressive season when he became a surprise winner of the Trofeo Matteotti. In a race that was set to be decided in a reduced bunch sprint, he surprised the fast riders with a late solo move.

Bardiani, Southeast and Roth Skoda had controlled the race firmly for their fast riders Enrico Battaglin, Simone Ponzi and Andrea Pasqualon and they seemed to have everything under control when no one had managed to escape on the final climb which summited just 7km from the finish. However, Shalunov showed impressive strength by launching a strong solo attack.

The many climbs had taken their toll and so most teams were left fatigued. That allowed Shalunov to gradually extend his advantage.

With less than 4km to go, he had a gap of 14 seconds and with 2km to go he had extended it to 22 seconds. The Italian national team was chasing hard but it was not enough as the Russian had added another 10 second when he passed the flamme rouge.

In the end, no one was able to bring him back and he crossed the line for a solo win. Pasqualon beat Davide Vigano in the sprint for second.

Trofeo Matteotti was the first of the many Italian one-day races in the second half of the year. The next big race is the Giro della Toscana on July 26.

A circuit race

The 58th edition of Trofeo Matteotti was held on a 15km circuit around the city of Pescara that the riders would do 13 times for a total distance of 195km. It included three smaller climbs in the first half but the final 7km were mainly descending, meaning that a reduced sprint was the expected outcome.

It was a very hot day in Pescara when the riders gathered for the start, with Christiano Monguzzi and Jurag Ugrinic (Meridiana) being the non-starters. As always in the Italian one-day races it was a fast opening stage with many attacks.

Sterbini escapes

Maurizio Damiano (Idea) was very active right in the early kilometres but it was Luca Sterbini (Bardiani) who escaped and quickly got an advantage of 25 seconds. D’Amico-Bottecchia started to chase and at the 6km mark, they had brought the gap down to 16 seconds. However, they gave up and at the first passage of the finish line, Sterbini had extended his advantage to 2.35.

The Italian national team took control but they were not riding full gas. Hence, Sergey Rozin (Itera-Katusha) and Thomas Capochi (D’Amico-Bottechia) took off in pursuit but they were still 2.20 behind at the top of the main climb where the peloton had been distanced by 3.02.

The gap grows

The two chasers brought the gap down to 1.20 but at the next passage of the line, the gap was back up to 2.07 while the peloton was at 2.37. Eugert Zhupa had started to chase for Southeast but he was not riding full gas and so the gap had gone out to 4 minutes at the next passage of the line. At this point, the two chasers were at 1.08.

Nippo took over the pace-setting in the peloton with Giacomo Berlato while Sterbini decided to wait for his two chasers. At the end of the fourth lap, the front trio had an advantage of 4.12.

Southeast take control

There was still no organized chase and it was Amore & Vita that took control before Idea took over. At the end of the next lap, the gap was 5.25. It even went out to 7 minutes before Southeast upped the pace with Andrea Fedi.

Androni-Sidermec also came to the fore and they led the peloton across the line with six laps to go, 5.27 behind the leaders. Emanuele Sella and Tiziano Dall’Antonia did the work to set up Oscar Gatto for the win.

Sterbini attacks

MG Kvis joined forces with Androni and Nippo and they had brought the gap down to 2.45 at the start of the next lap. This prompted Sterbini to attack on the next climb and he quickly got an advantage of 20 seconds.

At the next passage of the line, Sterbini had an advantage of 2 minutes while the peloton was at 3.12, now led by Roth Skoda. However, Androni quickly took over and brought the chasers back.

Pirazzi takes off

With three laps to go, the gap was only 1.11 and the peloton had been whittled down to just 80 riders.  Bardiani-CSF had now taken over before they sent Stefano Pirazzi off in an attack.

Pirazzi caught Sterbini and the duo were joined by Kirill Sveshnikov (Lokosphinx) before Sterbini was dropped. He Russian was also distanced while several riders were dropped form the peloton.

Lots of attacks

Pirazzi had no luck and was brought back. Instead, Sergey Shilov (Lokosphinx) tried but Bardiani and Southeast made sure that he got nowhere.

The subsequent attempt by Michele Scartezzini (MG Kvis) was also unsuccessful and the attacking continued all the way to the finish line. However, it was a compact 55-rider group led by Vaccher and Stussi from Roth Skoda that started the penultimate lap.

Shalunov makes his move

An MG Kvis rider tried to attack but it was Luca Chirico who got clear. He stayed ahead until they reached the main climb where he was brought. Gianfranco Zilioli (Androni) was the next to try and Pirazzi also gave it another go but Southeast brought everything back.

Alessio Taliani and Antonio Santoro were part of a 5-rider break that got clear with 8km to go but Southeast also neutralized that move. Instead, Evgeny Shalunov (Lokosphinx)  got an advantage and he was still 14 seconds ahead with less than 4km to go.

Shalunov had extended his advantage to 32 seconds as he passed the flamme rouge and that was enough to hold off the peloton. The Italian national team chased hard but came up short and so the peloton could only sprint for second, with Andrea Pasqualon beating Davide Vigano in the fight for the runner-up spot.