Robert Gesink doubles up at the Giro dell’Emilia
The road cycling season is winding down and the riders are building up to the last major race, the Giro di Lombardia on October 17. But on Saturday, Robert Gesink won the Giro dell’Emilia for the second consecutive time, his third victory of the season.
“It was the first time that I have started such a big race with number one on my back,” said Gesink. “That gave me a very special feeling, I must confess. And then to win, too. That makes it a very nice victory. And I know that it does not happen often.”
The 24-year-old Dutch cyclist was sixth overall in this year’s Tour de France and more recently won the ProTour Grand Prix Cyclist de Montreal after finishing third in the GP Quebec two days earlier.
He opted to sit out of the World Championships in order to focus on the end-of-season Italian Classics. The Rabobank rider’s victory was one second ahead of Daniel Martin, confirming that he made the right decision.
“You only have one race a year in which you can ride for your country. That is special,” said Gesink. “But I made an informed decision and opted for the fall classics in Italy. It is very good when you win the first race immediately. It is confirmation that
my choice was the right one and gives me a lot of satisfaction."
The race built up to an uphill finish fought over by a 14-rider group which escaped in the final four laps of the finishing circuit. Michele Scarponi joined Gesink and Martin on the podium, nine seconds behind the winner, two seconds ahead of Alexandr Kolobnev
and four ahead of Vuelta a Espana winner, Vincenzo Nibali, rounding out the top-five.
"I showed well in the race, it was just a bit disappointing that Gesink had better tactics that me. We're probably as equally as strong as one another, but I kinda messed up the last 200 meters,” said Martin. “It's all a learning process and it's the first
time I've done that race, so I'll have to remember that for next year."
The top five riders were all using the race as a warming for the Giro di Lombardia next weekend, though the winner recently announced he would be dropping out of that race.
On Monday, October 11, Rabobank announced that Gesink has withdrawn from the race after learning that his father had been hospitalised after a serious riding accident in the Bart Brentjens Classic on Sunday.
“After Gesink had been informed of the incident, he decided to return to the Netherlands directly from Italy,” said a statement by Rabobank.
The Dutch rider might have been among the favourites in Lombardia, but the dell’Emilis has still given us a good idea of who is in form.
"Philippe Gilbert is for sure the favourite,” said Gesink. “But I saw that Jakob Fuglsang rode very good. He rode tactically very strong.”
Gilbert was the pre-race favourite for the World Championships, won by Thor Hushovd, and plans to make up for his loss at the Giro di Lombardia, which he will ride as the defending champion. Martin, the dell’Emilia runner-up, has
insisted that he doesn’t want any pressure put on him in Lombardia.
"Lombardia's such a long race. The weather could play a part, you've got to have luck and at this stage of the year things can be different from day-to-day. Hopefully things fall into place next weekend and I can get a good result
out of it. If not I've had a great season anyway, so I'm going into it with no pressure."
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