The 2010 world junior champion Bob Jungels clocked up his first professional win today, with the 20 year old showing his horsepower in soloing to a clear win in the GP Nobili Rubinetterie ahead of a hard-chasing main bunch.
The young Luxembourg rider used an early break as the platform to gain time, then clipped clear and time trialed to the finish. He reached the line 52 seconds ahead of a large main bunch led in by Daniele Bennati (Team Saxo Tinkoff), Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team) and Marco Zamparella (Utensilnord).
The victory was the first for his RadioShack Leopard team this season, showing that a team with several very old riders such as Chris Horner, Jens Voigt and Andreas Klöden also has some emerging new stars.
“This was a race where we had no real leader so Kim [Andersen, RadioShack Leopard directeur sportif] told us to try something. It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “I was hoping to have a win some time this year but I never expected this. I am overwhelmed. It’s good for the team and I am so happy.”
Jungels was involved in the action from early in the 187 kilometre Italian event, attacking after 11 kilometres with Marco Haller (Katusha), Eloi Teruel (Movistar) and Edwin Avila Vanegas (Team Colombia). After 100 kilometres of racing they were over nine minutes clear; Jungels wasn’t happy to remain in the group, though, deciding to attack on the climb of Massino Visconti and to try to hold off the bunch alone.
“It was a really hard day. Everyone on the team kept trying to go in the breakaways and I finally made it with Haller, Teruel and Avila,” he explained. “We worked well together most of the day and got over nine minutes. When we went on the climb the first time we still had seven minutes and I saw that I was the strongest in the group.
“We were three guys by the second time on the climb and I attacked at the bottom. That was my only chance so I time trialled to the finish against a strong headwind. I kept hearing Kim’s voice in my ear piece and I couldn’t believe how long those fifteen kilometres felt.”
Third placed Ponzi said that he had considerable help from his Astana team, but that it was not possible to beat Bennati for second.
“I had Gasparotto working for me in the leadout for the final fifteen kilometres, and it was Gavazzi and Aru who did all the work of the peloton today to chase down the first breakaway,” he said. “I sprinted very well but Bennati was so far ahead that I couldn't take him back.”
Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Stefano Zanini was pleased regardless. “In the end it was ten centimetres that separated Ponzi from one step higher on the podium, so we can take away that he is in good form this week.”
Jungels is regarded as perhaps the biggest young talent from Luxembourg. He underlined his potential with his 2010 world junior championship win, and last year raced with the Leopard Trek continental team, the feeder team for RadioShack Leopard.
His victories last year include the 2.2-ranked Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux and Flèche du Sud events, plus the espoir Paris-Roubaix.
He also a stage of the Giro della Valle d'Aosta and was second in the European time trial championship.
GP Nobili Rubinetterie/Coppa Papà Carlo/Coppa Città di Stresa:
1, Bob Jungels (Radioshack Leopard) 187 kilometres in 4 hours 33 mins 4 secs
2, Daniele Bennati (Team Saxo Tinkoff) at 52 secs
3, Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team)
4, Marco Zamparella (Utensilnord)
5, Francisco Ventoso Alberdi (Movisstar Team)
6, Fabio Felline (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
7, Simone Campagnaro (Team Nippo - De Rosa)
8, Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ)
9, Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team)
10, Marco Canola (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
11, Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
12, Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
13, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Colombia)
14, Kirill Sveshnikov (Lokosphinx)
15, Riccardo Chiarini (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
16, Alessandro Proni (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
17, David Boily (Amore Amore & Vita Vita)
18, Alexey Tcatevitch (Katusha)
19, Miguel Minguez Ayala (Euskaltel Euskadi)
20, Matteo Fedi (Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest.
21, Dmitry Kozontchuk (Katusha)
22, Nicolas Baldo (Atlas Personal - Jakroo)
23, Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Euskaltel Euskadi)
24, George Bennett (Radioshack Leopard)
25, Murilo Antonio Fischer (FDJ)
26, Ben Hermans (Radioshack Leopard)
27, Jonathan Monsalve (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
28, Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Movistar Team)
29, Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Euskaltel Euskadi)
30, Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Movistar Team)
31, Frederico Rocchetti (Utensilnord)
32, Davide Rebellin (Ccc Polsat Polkowice)
33, Thomas Rohregger (Radioshack Leopard)
34, Ivan Rovny (Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest)
35, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
36, Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
37, Matthew Busche (Radioshack Leopard)
38, Filippo Savini (Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest)
39, Alberto Contador Velasco (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
40, Sylvester Szmyd (Movistar Team)
41, Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
42, Fabio Duarte Arevalo (Colombia)
43, Carlos Julian Quintero (Colombia)
44, Edwin Avila Vanegas (Colombia)
45, Manuele Boaro (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
46, Michael Rogers (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
47, Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia)
48, Marco Haller (Katusha)
49, Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Movistar Team)
50, Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team)
51, Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
52, Filippo Fortin (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
53, Arnaud Demare (FDJ)
54, Alexander Porsev (Katusha)
55, Zsolt Der (Utensilnord)
56, Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
57, Filippo Baggio (Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest)
58, Andrea Pasqualon (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
59, Omar Lombardi (Utensilnord)
60, Marco Zanotti (Utensilnord)
61, Mattia Pozzo (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
62, Pier Paolo De Negri (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
63, Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha)
64, Evgeny Shalunov (Lokosphinx)
65, Jorge Azanza Soto (Euskaltel Euskadi)
66, Mikel Landa Meana (Euskaltel Euskadi)
67, Gabriele Bosisio (Utensilnord)
68, Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
69, Javier Megias Leal (Team Novo Nordisk)
70, Tomas Gil Martinez (Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)
71, Sergei Chernetski (Katusha)
72, Laurent Didier (Radioshack Leopard)
73, Benjamin King (Radioshack Leopard)
74, Matteo Tosatto (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
75, Michael Morkov (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
76, William Bonnet (FDJ)
77, Yoann Offredo (FDJ)
78, Ioannis Tamouridis (Euskaltel Euskadi)
79, Robert Vrecer (Euskaltel Euskadi)
80, Nikolay Mihaylov (Ccc Polsat Polkowice)
81, Adrian Honkisz (Ccc Polsat Polkowice)
82, Lukasz Owsian (Ccc Polsat Polkowice)
83, Rafael Andriato (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
84, Francesco Chicchi (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
85, Oscar Gatto (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
86, Fabio Taborre (Vini Fantini - Selle Italia)
87, Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
88, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
89, Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
90, Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Colombia)
91, Jeffry Romero Corredor (Colombia)
92, Giorgio Brambilla (Atlas Personal - Jakroo)
93, Kanstantsin Klimiankou (Atlas Personal - Jakroo)
94, Oleksandr Polivoda (Atlas Personal - Jakroo)
95, Alessio Camilli (Team Nippo - De Rosa)
96, Alberto Cecchin (Team Nippo - De Rosa)
97, Kohei Uchima (Team Nippo - De Rosa)
98, Mikhail Antonov (Lokosphinx)
99, Arkimedes Arguelyes Rodriges (Lokosphinx)
100, Dmitry Sokolov (Lokosphinx)
101, Fabio Calabria (Team Novo Nordisk)
102, Alessandro Mazzi (Utensilnord)
103, Aleksey Rybalkin (Lokosphinx)
104, Artem Topchyanuyk (Amore Amore & Vita Vita)
105, Boris Shpilevsky (Lokosphinx)
106, Marco Corti (Colombia)
107, Volodymyr Starchyk (Amore Amore & Vita Vita)
108, Manabu Ishibashi (Team Nippo - De Rosa)
109, Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) all same time