Tre Valli Varesine: Ilan Van Wilder reacts to proposed Jumbo-Visma - Soudal-QuickStep merger after solo victory

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Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) soloed to victory at Tre Valli Varesine with a canny attack on the final lap of the finishing circuit around Varese. The Belgian broke away from an elite group with a shade under 10km to go and he managed his effort perfectly on the climbs of Casciago and Via Sacco to hold off the chasers.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) clipped away to claim second place, while Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) took the third step on the podium ahead of Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

This was, as the results sheet indicates, a race of considerable depth and an intriguing appetizer for the main event at Il Lombardia on Saturday. Van Wilder’s victory against such august opposition was also, of course, a reminder of the most pressing news story in professional cycling in the final weeks of this season.

As he waited to mount the podium, Van Wilder saw little point in sugarcoating his thoughts on the proposed merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep.

“These have been difficult weeks for us,” Van Wilder said. “This victory is for our staff and my teammates, to show we don’t agree with all this shit, and we want to continue Soudal-QuickStep. We are strong enough and I hope it will be like this.”

There was certainly no arguing with Van Wilder’s strength here. As per tradition, Tre Valli Varesine was largely a race of attrition until the final lap, when Pogacar began to whittle down the front group with a stinging acceleration on the climb of Morosolo.

Only Roglič, Carapaz and Enric Mas (Movistar) could immediately follow his initial onslaught with 12km to go before another dozen or so riders bridged across. Carapaz and Mas were the next to attack on the climb, and their effort pared the group down still further as they crested the summit.

Van Wilder was smartly positioned towards the front, and he sensed a lull as the race tackled the short false flat that preceded the following ascent of Casciago. He pressed on the pedals with 9.5km to go, and when he turned around, he found he had opened a sizeable gap. In his radio earpiece, directeur sportif Davide Bramati encouraged him to explore further.

“Actually, I just wanted to make tempo and then I had a gap and then I went full gas, with my sport director Bramati turning crazy in the car saying I had to do a TT until the finish,” Van Wilder said. “And I did.”

Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën) attempted to bridge across, but Van Wilder had fifteen seconds in hand on the chasers as he tackled the stiff slopes of Casciago, an advantage he maintained over the summit.

Behind, Pogačar, Roglič and Carapaz were in a chasing group of ten or so riders, but they lacked the cohesion to make any significant inroads into Van Wilder’s lead before the final climb up Via Sacco with 2.5km to go.

The anticipated onslaughts from Pogačar and Roglič never quite arrived on the ascent, however, and Van Wilder had a winning gap by the time he crested the summit with a little over 500m to go. Carapaz struck out alone in a late, desperate pursuit, but he had to settle for second place, 16 seconds down, while Vlasov led home the rest of the chasers at 18 seconds.

“In the end, it was a very aggressive race, I don’t think any one team had control and it was very active in the last five laps, very selective,” Carapaz said. “A lot of us were looking at each other when Van Wilder attacked, and he built up a difference that we couldn’t bring back.”

Beyond Van Wilder, the day’s other stand-out performer was Italian neo-professional Walter Calzoni (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), who survived from the early break and then proceeded to throw himself onto the attack on the final lap.

Calzoni was joined by Samuele Battistella (Astana), Remy Rochas (Cofidis), Francesco Busatto (Intermarché-Circus Wanty), Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar), Ewen Costiou (Arke- Samsic), Erik Fetter (Eolo Kometa), Alessio Martinelli (Green Project Bardiani-Csf Faizanè) and teammate Gianluca Brambilla in the move that went clear after 40km.

The Italian was the last man standing from that group when Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) and Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) bridged across on the first of two laps of the 25km finishing circuit.

By then, Calzoni understandably looked to be flagging, but he found fresh impetus when the trio were caught on the final time up the Morosolo, attacking alone off the front. His effort was only finally extinguished when Vlasov ignited the attacking among the favourites further up the climb.

At that point, Roglič and Pogačar looked set to renew their duel from the Giro dell’Emilia, only for Van Wilder to change the script at the last. 

“This is the least expected victory of my life: I had bad legs in Emilia but today I felt good,” said Van Wilder, who became the first Belgian winner of the race since Eddy Merckx in 1968. It still remains to be seen, meanwhile, if his will be the final victory in the long history of the QuickStep team. “I really took a lot of strength from the last days,” he said.

Results

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