GP Industria & Artigianato: Isaac del Toro wins breakaway sprint

The three riders got away from a reduced peloton on the last lap of the race over the final ascent of the decisive San Baronto.

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“I was keeping an on on both of the others coming into the finish as I knew they were both strong. We had to keep the pressure on and work together because there were only 10 seconds, or so, to the chasing group behind. It worked out well for us in the end, and I’m very happy,” Del Toro said.

“I like the racing here in Italy, and the fans are really supportive and have a passion for cycling. I’m always happy to race here.”

A one-day ProSeries race, GP Industria & Artigianato offered a 196.3km race in Larciano on a route that opened with four shorter loops followed by five larger loops that included ascents: twice over Fornello, a 2.9km ascent with 11% pitches near the top, and then three times over San Baronto, an 8.4km climb at 3.5% average gradients before a descent back into Larciano.

An early breakaway emerged that included Tyler Stites (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Pierre Latour (Team TotalEnergies), Cedrik Bakke Christophersen (Unibet Tietema Rockets), David Delgado (Burgos Burpellet BH), Filippo Dignani (Sam-Vitalcare-Dynatek) and Matteo Spreafico (Mg.K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente).

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The six riders pushed their lead out to nearly six minutes with around 90km to go, and just before reaching the final three larger circuits that included the longer climbs over San Baronto.

On the first time over the 8.4km climb, Latour was distanced and then the breakaway split apart completely, with Stites and Dignani pushing on alone out front.

Five of the breakaway riders regrouped on the descent with Christophersen, Delgado, and Spraefico rejoining Stites and Dignani, but the gap had reduced to just 40 seconds before the start of the next ascent of the San Baronto.

As anticipated, the breakaway split apart on the second ascent, but this time it was Christophersen and Spraefico leading the charge. The latter struggled to stay on Christophersen’s wheel, and the Norwegian eventually pulled away, but the gap continued to drop with the main field just 20 seconds back.

After making the catch, a new breakaway launched with Paul Double (Team Jayco AlUla), Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) and Johannes Kulset (Uno-X Mobility), with splits among the main field behind the trio.

Over the top, Battistella was alone with 15 seconds ahead of a reduced field of about 30 riders as they began the last lap of the race.

The Italian was caught along the flatter sections of the circuit with a reduced group of 25 riders racing toward the final ascent of the San Baronto, with EF Education-EasyPost and XDS Astana leading the group.

Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Davide Piganzoli (Team Polti VisitMalta) broke away over the climb, with a chase group of five close behind including Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling), Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty), Johannes Kulset (Uno-X Mobility) and Alexandre Delettre (Team TotalEnergies).

The catch never happened, however, and Del Toro won the three-rider sprint at the line.