Young Belgian makes a jump of seven places after the uphill finish in Emilia-Romagna.
In his first race since winning the GP Industria & Artigianato, Mauri Vansevenant showed again his offensive nature, lighting up the hard stage 2 between Riccione and Sogliano al Rubicone with a powerful attack launched just as the road was beginning to rise inside twelve kilometers to go. Joined by Juan Ayuso (Team Colpack Ballan), the Belgian quickly opened a 25-second gap on the peloton, which was numbering two dozen or so riders, including his Deceuninck – Quick-Step teammate Mikkel Honoré.
With the flamme rouge in sight, Mauri dropped his companion and entered the final kilometer with 13 seconds in hand, but the four-man chasing group closed in rapidly on the tough slopes to the finish and caught him a frustratingly 200 meters from the line. The all-out effort he had put in until then began took its toll and the 21-year-old couldn’t be in contention for the victory, which went to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who also pulled on the leader’s jersey that Mark Cavendish sported on Wednesday.
“I attacked because nobody was controlling in the final part of the stage and I sensed it could be the right moment to make a move. I went clear together with another guy with more than ten kilometers to go and on the climb I could dispatch him thanks to a strong acceleration. At one point, I had 20 seconds on the chasers, but they came back with 200-250 meters to go. Finishing in the top 10 it’s a good result, but I’m a bit disappointed having come so close to another victory today”, explained Mauri, who is seventh in the general classification of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, just 11 seconds off the lead.
Photo credit: ©Sirotti.it
