Consonni just off the podium at Memorial Pantani

Simone Consonni brought an end to his season and three years with UAE Team Emirates with a solid fourth place in the Memorial Pantani (199.8 km).

On his last race of the season, the Italian sprinter held no punches and fought his way into the main breakaway of the race. A group of 8 riders formed after 20 km of racing which reduced to two on the climb of Montevecchio – the duo of Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Gobert) and Diego Rosa (Team Ineos).

As they neared the finish the peloton absorbed all previous members of the break, with only the Franco-Italian pair able to defend a slender lead until the last kilometere when 500 meters from the finish, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) passed them at speed on his way to a confident win.
Immediately behind was Rosa (2nd) and Martin (3rd), with Consonni taking the 4th place.

Simone Consonni after the race: “This morning I felt good, so I decided to approach the race a bit differently and not just wait for the sprint, also taking into consideration that the last 60 km were not particularly challenging.
I had an aggressive attitude and I joined in with the attacking, feeling good in the middle part of the race, while in the end we wavered all a little too much after being all day on the attack.  I did not expect to have a lot of energy, but actually my legs were still responding well and I managed to do a good sprint.
I’m sorry we did not win, as I wanted to finish with a victory on my final outing after three good years with UAE Team Emirates “.

Race results
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana 4h50’26”
2 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos s.t.
3 Guillame Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert s.t.
4 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates s.t.