Having worked hard for Fabio Aru in the Vuelta a Espana, Paolo Tiralongo made use of his good condition to chase a personal result in the Coppa Agostoni. The Italian attacked in the hilly middle part of the race and was only caught less than 10km from the finish.

“I tried to race the final climb with all of my leg power, and it’s too bad they caught us just a few km before the finish," Paolo Tiralongo said after the Coppa Agostoni, the second of three consecutive one-day Italian races that make up the Trittico Lombardo.

Tiralongo escaped into the breakaway with four other riders, racing a mixture of city circuits at the start and finish around Lissone and one long loop in the middle with four short, steep climbs. After the climbs the peloton accelerated to catch the escapees, finally overtaking Tiralongo and his companions with just 10km to the finish.

Francesco Gavazzi contested the sprint, but finished outside the Top-10, while teammates Vincenzo Nibali and Aleksandr Dyachenko remained behind to continue preparations ahead of next week’s World Championships in Spain.

On Thursday the Trittico Lombardo concludes with the Tre Valli Varesine, a hilly point-to-point race with finishing circuits in near Lago de Varese.