A grand end to the season for Brieuc Rolland! The 21-year-old Breton from Groupama-FDJ won the U23 Tour of Lombardy this Saturday in Italy. He beat the Italian Savino (Soudal – Quick-Step Devo Team) and Gal Gilvar (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z). The Norwegian Embret Svestad-Bårdseng (Arkéa – B&B Hotels Continentale) finished fourth. “It was a very fast race from the start. The goal was not to miss a dangerous shot. I managed well, I managed not to show myself. I gave everything on the last climb, I left alone but I was caught again. I still believed in my sprint. It came down to freshness,” describes Brieuc Rolland.
“I was destroyed after the world championships”
A race which ends an exceptional season, punctuated by a rise in the WorldTour next season: victory in the Course de la Paix, second in the Orlen Nations (Poland) and in the French U21 championship, fifth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23… and his first podium among seniors, on the Polynormande. “I’m very happy because I was destroyed last week after the world championships for which I had worked hard to try to win (he gave up in the hopeful race). I completely missed my race so I’m happy to be able to make up for my last one with the Conti which gave me so much. We don’t have many victories, and this one feels really good. It was a very hard day and I will remember it for a while,” concludes the young Breton climber, who will be competing in the Coppa Agostoni this Sunday, with the WorldTour team.
1. Brieuc ROLLAND (Groupama-FDJ) ; 2. F. Savino (Soudal – Quick-Step Devo Team) ; 3. G. Gilvar (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) ; 4. E. Svestad-Bårdseng (Arkéa – B&B Hotels Continentale).
