Giro della Toscana

Basque climber from Movistar Team -already ruled out for World Championships- completes over one hundred kilometers inside main peloton until second, penultimate climb to Monte Serra. Rojas, Fernández top Blues at Pontedera's finish; Moscon (SKY) succeeds in three-man sprint

Gianni Moscon (SKY) took the day’s honours at the 90th edition of the Giro della Toscana (UCI 1.1), held on Wednesday over 199km around Pontedera (Pisa), with three climbs of the demanding Monte Serra (9km at 7%). The Italian was the strongest into a very long sprint against Romain Bardet (ALM, 2nd) and Domenico Pozzovivo (TBM, 3rd), after the trio left behind their rivals in the long final ascent.

The Italian event marked the return into racing – 46 days after a crash and injuries in San Sebastián – for Mikel Landa, who completed just over two thirds of the race at the front -including two of the climbs- in his first day with a back number on since August. Ahead of him continued, until the final climb, José Joaquín Rojas, Antonio Pedrero and Rubén Fernández, the latter dropped only halfway through that last ascent.

All seven Blues taking the start today will be back at Thursday’s Coppa Sabatini, with the final climbs of the Via Risorgimento slope as main difficulty before a predictable sprint finish.

Picture (c): Roberto Bettini / BettiniPhoto.net