After a couple of close calls landing him on the podium this season, Giovanni Visconti (ISD - Neri) finally got his first win of 2010 in today's Classica Sarda. Visconti beat Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas-Doimo) and Geoffroy Lequatre (RadioShack) into second and third respectively, out of a leading bunch of 20 riders.
The Classica Sarda was last race in the Sardinian week of events and took place over the 187.6 kilometers from Sassari to Olbia.
"The team was perfect, all my teammates worked for this result. Scognamiglio guided me in escape, Caccia and Longo Borghini worked to guarantee the advantage of the escape and Clarke, with me, had made the selection," said Visconti after the race. "I had to do a long sprint, with the possibility of losing, but behind us the group was close and I decided to start my sprint at 300 meters. I changed my gear when I noticed the others and I was lucky to hold on until the end."
Visconti, 27, is relieved to finally get a win under his belt, and is now focused on the next big Italian races: "I'm happy for this success, it's what I wanted," Visconti added. "But now I want something more, I want to win one of the important races organized by RCS, the first one is Tirreno-Adriatico."
Results for the 2010 Classica Sarda:
1. Giovanni Visconti (ISD - Neri) 3h53m09s (48.278 kilometers / h)
2. Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas - Doimo)
3. Geoffroy Lequatre (Team Radio Shack)
4. Daniele Colli (Ceramica Flaminia)
5. Fabio Fellin (Footon - Lotto)
6. Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre - Farnese Vini)
7. Riccardo Chiarini (De Rosa - Stac Plastic)
8. Janez Brajkovic (Team Radio Shack)
9. Michele Scarponi (Androni - Diquigiovanni)