Belgian success in Coppa Bernocchi. Stan Van Tricht took the plunge at the start of the Italian race. When he was released by Bart Lemmen, his first professional victory seemed unlikely. But our compatriot from Alpecin-Deceuninck called the Dutchman back into a group and produced a long, powerful sprint. Remco Evenepoel did not escape the clutches of the peloton.
A group of big names, including Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, were at the start of the Coppa Bernocchi, the second of the four “vecchie signore”. They are all eager to succeed Wout van Aert on the list of winners.
However, the main candidates would have already got up after 15 kilometers of racing. Stan Van Tricht (Alpecin-Deceuninck) jumped with a nice group of 5 adventurers, including Bart Lemmen and Pierre Latour.
Remco Evenepoel was eager to take sporting revenge for his retirement from the Giro dell’Emilia and tried to close the gap to Mauri Vansevenant, without success. The Olympic champion responded to the peloton, where he showed frustration at the lack of cooperation.
Meanwhile, things weren’t going fast enough for Bart Lemmen, up front. The former career soldier, who became a professional cyclist at just 27 years old, left his companions behind. Stan Van Tricht found himself in a chasing group including Neilson Powless and Roger Adria.
Lemmen attempted to secure his first professional victory, but had to abandon his time trial barely 1 kilometer from the finish. Van Tricht keeps his cool among the pursuers and sprints to his first professional victory ahead of Alex Baudin and Roger Adria.
Evenepoel will have another chance tomorrow at Tre Valli Varesine, although he will have to face world champion Tadej Pogacar again.
Stan Van Tricht beamed with his Coppa Bernocchi victory. “I’m very happy,” he said. “It was a difficult season, but in the last few weeks I got my good legs back.”
“I was able to have the perfect race today with an early breakaway. I knew we could go far, because the rainy weather was also good for the leading group.
Van Tricht didn’t panic when Bart Lemmen went solo. “I knew I had to be smart and stay in the group. I knew I had the best sprint, but it’s always difficult when they jump behind you. I saw Neilson go after Powless and I knew I had to go.
Van Tricht will also ride the Tre Valli Varesine tomorrow.
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