Lobato 4th at Gran Piemonte
29 September 2016

Last race before Il Lombardia / Injury report

Nizzolo (ITA) wins tricky sprint in Agliè, 48 hours before the ‘Foglie Morte’. Rubén Fernández set to be operated on Monday after right collarbone fracture

The Movistar Team competed on Thursday at the 100th Gran Piemonte (1.HC), a 207km sprinters' course between Diano d’Alba and Agliè covered at very high speeds. A 38-man breakaway, including 'Blues' Andrey Amador and Jorge Arcas, forced many squads to furiously pursuit into the first half of the race, the lead group always having a gap around 1'30" before a further push from behind made the junction possible at about 95km from the finish.

With that huge escape caught and only one other attempt in Stéphane Rossetto (COF) -the Frenchman reached down by the pursuit with 1500m to go-, a slightly uphill sprint in Agliè, with cobblestones and two turns in the final hundred meters, rewarded Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), who beat Gaviria (EQS), Bennati (TNK) and Movistar Team's Juanjo Lobato, 4th over the line after help from Arcas, Carapaz and Castroviejo following the climb of Alice Superiore.

In other, more frustrating news, and following yesterday's hard crash in Milano-Torino, it was confirmed today that Rubén Fernández will undergo surgery on Monday to fix his right collarbone fracture. Both the Spaniard and Adriano Malori have headed back to their homes after the accident.

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