After following team orders to sit on, Leonardo Bertagnolli (Liquigas) made the winning move at the Third Memorial Cimurri GP Bioera on Saturday. The 29 year-old Italian, winner of the Clásica San Sebastián, finished first in the sprint which included his mates in the four-man break.
He finished ahead of Luca Mazzanti (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) and Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval-Prodir), with Russian Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems) in fourth. Bertagnolli's team-mate Filippo Pozzato led a small group of chasers home, taking fifth over Alessandro Petacchi (Milram).
"It was a team victory because the presence of the green-blue jerseys at the escapees' heels; they permitted me to maintain a passive role," explained Bertagnolli of the races tactics. Bertagnolli dedicated the win to team-mate Pozzato whose grandmother, who died Friday morning.
Bertagnolli is now looking ahead to the Giro di Lombardia.
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