Coppi e Bartali: Solo Marco Brenner holds off sprinting pack for stage 1 victory

Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling) launched a powerful late attack to grab a solo win on the opening stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali.

The 21-year-old German held off a surging peloton by only seconds across the final 4km for his first win of the season. Matteo Malucelli (JCL Team UKYO) finished second while Koen Bouwman (Visma-Lease a Bike) held off Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Dstny) for third.

With the victory, Brenner becomes the first leader in the overall classification of the five-day stage race.

Stage 1 stretched into the high hills to the west of the Adriatic coastal city of Pesaro, with the opening 23km from Pesaro’s interior Piazza del Popolo offering a flat approach to a series of ramps leading to the first of two categorised climbs. Four riders took advantage of the fast terrain and built an early lead of nearly two minutes - Erik Fetter (Polti Kometa), James Whelan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Luc Wirtgen (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).

Across the crest of the Monte della Cesana (10.7km averaging 2.6% ), the quartet held the gap at 1:58 with 69km to go, Tarozzi taking the first mountain points of the five-day stage race, Wirtgen in second and Fetter in third.

On the climb behind the group, Nicolas Milesi (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels Continentale) crashed and abandoned the race.

The next 22 kilometres sloped down to a second pass through Montelabbate and Montecchio, the four leaders still together for the second half of the 109.7km route but the lead began to fade. Driving the peloton in the chase were Jayco AlUla, Tudor Pro Cycling and UAE Team Emirates.

The top KOM points on the second and final categorised climb, a short 1.7km with pitches up to 7% on the Gabicce Monte, were again swiped by Tarozzi. Once over the top, it signalled the end for Fetter, who drifted backwards, and the final 20km for a bumpy run along the Adriatic coast to Viale Trieste in Pesaro.

With 16km to ride, Paul Double (Polti Kometa) bridged to the leaders and replaced his teammate in the breakaway, the group holding a slight 15-second advantage.

In the final 10km, the peloton scooped up the front four and the pace increased for the one final uncategorised climb at Inizio Discesa to conquer. Teams jockeyed for position as the mass of riders began the ascent, Visma-Lease a Bike working their way to the front.

Tudor Pro Cycling’s Marco Brenner launched the first attack on the swooping descent with 4km to go and opened a small gap. Lotto Dstny and Visma-Lease a Bike led the chase behind, but could not catch the young Tudor Pro rider.

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