News | Giro dell'Emilia | Tour du Limousin • August 18, 2020
Ulissi battles to podium in Bologna
Italian 3rd in uphill finish at Giro Dell’ Emilia, Costa top-10 overall in Tour du Limousin
In a brave performance, Diego Ulissi battled to a podium finish on the brutally hard uphill finish at the Giro Dell’ Emilia (1.Pro) from Casalecchio di Reno San Luca (199.7k).
The Italian went into the race in good form, coming in after an 8th place at Il Lombardia and 2nd in Gran Piemonte the week previous.
The victory on the day went to Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) after he caught and passed lone escapee João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) on the stiff final climb to San Luca above Bologna.
Diego Ulissi: “Today I gave my best, even though I found myself drifting and coming back to the group at times I tried to keep a consistent effort for the whole race, especially when it got hard. In the final I used all my remaining strength on the last climb, giving my best and earning a spot on the podium.”
Ulissi and his Italian UAE Team Emirates teammates will now turn their attention to the Italian National Championships which take place on Sunday 23 August with a lap from Bassano del Grappa to Cittadella (254km).
Meanwhile in France Rui Costa was 11th after stage 1 of the Tour du Limousin (2.1). The recently crowned Portuguese road race champion finished in a reduced group on the undulating parcours from Couzeix to Evaux-Les-Bains (183.5k). The day was won by Italian Luca Wackermann (Vini-Zabu) in a late solo attack, 2km from the finish. Wackermann now leads the overall with Costa in 6th place at 16”.
Stage 2 in Limousin will take the riders from Base Départementale de Rouffiac to Grand Etang de Saint-Estèph (173.9k) in a finale peppered with hills which could favour the puncheurs.
Giro Dell’ Emilia Results:
1. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) 4:59:38
2. Joao Almeida (Deceuninck Quickstep) @9”
3. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) @18”
Tour du Limousin Stage 1 results:
1. Luca Wackermann (Vini-Zabu) 4:30:19
2. Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) @7’’
3. Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural) @7’’
11. Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) @7’’
General Classification after Stage 1:
1. Luca Wackermann (Vini-Zabu) 4:30:19
2. Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) @11”
3. Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural) @13”
6. Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) @16”
