U23
Back-to-back victories: Lorenzo Finn wins GP Palio del Recioto
Lorenzo Finn continues his impressive run in Italy, securing his second victory in two days at the U23 race GP Palio del Recioto. It was the fifth win of the season for the Rookies.
Part of this story
At the prestigious one-day race over 152.4 kilometres around Negrar di Valpolicella, the reigning U23 World Champion once again delivered a standout performance. After his success at the Giro del Belvedere the day before, Lorenzo Finn backed it up in style and won solo, 56 seconds ahead of Matteo Scalco (Italy, XDS Astana Development Team) and Kevin Biehl (Denmark, General Store – Essegibi – F.lli Curia).
The Red Bull -- BORA -- hansgrohe Rookies controlled big parts of the race.
© Werner Müller-Schell
The Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe Rookies went into the race with a clear plan and executed it perfectly from start to finish. Paul Fietzke (Germany) and Anatol Friedl (Austria) controlled the early phase of the race and kept the breakaway in check, before Gustave Blanc (France) and Max Bock (Germany) took over in the decisive part of the day. Thanks to the work of his teammates, Finn was in the ideal position when the race reached its crucial point. With around 20 kilometres to go, Finn launched his decisive move on the final climb of the day. He quickly opened a gap and powered away solo to the finish, taking a convincing victory.
We took control of the race early on, and everything went according to plan. This was definitely a great collective effort.
“It was another amazing day,” said Finn after the race. “The teamwork was really strong from everyone. We took control of the race early on, and everything went according to plan. This was definitely a great collective effort. In the final, I still had good legs and was able to attack and go solo. The last two days show that my shape is starting to come around, which is a really good sign,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the next races.”
Max Bock rounded off the strong team result with a sixth-place finish, underlining once again the depth and quality of the Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe Rookies line-up. Sports Director Cesare Benedetti praised the collective ride of his team:
We knew we probably would not get much help in controlling the race today. That made the job even harder for us.
“We knew we probably would not get much help in controlling the race today, and the other teams were much more attentive from the beginning than they had been the day before. That made the job even harder for us. Paul and Anatol did a super strong job in the first part of the race, then Gustave took over, and Max set a fantastic pace on the longest climb of the day. Lorenzo finished it off with his attack on the steepest climb. Overall, it was a super team performance.”
Lorenzo Finn after the finish line of the Palio del Recioto.
© Werner Müller-Schell
Finn’s victory was already the fifth win of the season for the Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe Rookies. Their next big challenge now awaits on Sunday at Paris-Roubaix Espoirs, the U23 version of the famous French classic Paris-Roubaix.
Part of this story
