科爾布雷利 貝蓋利大獎賽稱王

主導擅長的坡上衝刺 巴林美利達秋季古典賽再添勝績

第24屆貝蓋利大獎賽(GP Beghelli)，巴林美利達的科爾布雷利(Sonny Colbrelli)領先巴爾韋德(Alejandro Valverde)和海格(Jack Haig)率先進站，為季末的巴林美利達再添一勝，這也是他繼2015年後，再次於這場比賽稱王。

「我想跑出一場好比賽，家人帶著女兒維多利亞(Vittoria)來到現場為我加油，更加深了這個意念。能有這樣的表現，我要尤其感謝科爾蒂納(Ivan Garcia Cortina)在最後一圈的協助，他是這場比賽的關鍵人物。」擔綱主將的科爾布雷利首先分享。

「在最後的下坡段，雖然有點冒險，但我必須趕上前線攻擊出去的選手們；進入衝刺階段，我知道自己是其中最快的一員，最終賽況發展也一如我的預期。延續世錦賽的好表現，這是我今年拿下的第3場勝利！」

協助主將不遺餘力的科爾蒂納，自己也取得第7名的好成績：「當巴爾韋德在最後一圈的上坡段發動攻擊時，我就在他的身後，扮演協助科爾布雷利的角色，我們先是和對手拉開一段差距，接著科爾布雷利是衝刺時，表現最佳的一員。我喜歡在義大利結束年度的賽程，因為這裡的短坡相當適合我的屬性。」

最後，由帶隊總監佩里佐蒂(Franco Pellizotti)帶來簡短的心得分享：「今天選手們的表現非常不錯，首先由加洛西歐(Andrea Garosio)和新城幸也控制了突圍集團的秒差，進入終點前50～60公里，我們的防守也做得相當成功；最後兩位速度好手，用勝利為我們的貝蓋利大獎賽完美作結！」

原文報導：
At the end of the 24th edition of the Italian one-day race Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli, Sonny Colbrelli crowned a strong performance by winning the sprint of a high-profile group of riders. This was the 17th win of the season for the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM. At the CRO Race the team showed quality in numbers with three different riders finishing on stage podiums.

With a distance of almost 200 kilometers and ten local laps around the town of Monteveglio, the one-day race Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli offers chances both for sprinters who can survive some climbs and for attackers. After all the Zappolino climb needs to be ridden on each lap. Sonny Colbrelli had already won this race back in 2015 and only got beaten by solo winner Luis Leon Sanchez in 2017. Thus he was the designated captain of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, with Phil Bauhaus serving as the team’s backup option for a full-out sprint of the entire peloton. These two riders could rely on the support of Yukiya Arashiro, Ivan Cortina, Andrea Garosio and Marcel Sieberg. Thus the team was ready for different scenarios.

At first three riders from smaller teams took center stage: The trio attacked early, quickly expanded its lead to ten and a half minutes but was caught with 42 kilometers to go. In the final hour of racing two attacks of a number of well-known riders got neutralized with the riders in red, gold and dark blue doing their share of the work. Then a strong seven-rider group went up the road, and the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM was the only team to have two riders in that group. Ivan Cortina sacrificed his own ambitions to support Sonny Colbrelli in the finale and mark all rivals. This team work paid off as Sonny Colbrelli handsomely won the sprint ahead of Alejandro Valverde and Jack Haig, celebrating his third individual win of the season and the 17th seasonal win of the team.

At the CRO Race stage race held in Croatia, the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM lost Matej Mohoric as its designated captain for the overall standings after only two days. Mohoric had finished the first two stages in 10th and 7th respectively and had won enough bonification seconds at intermediate sprints to move into 3rd in the individual standings. But right after crossing the finish line in Zadar, an inattentive spectator brought down a number of riders. In this crash Mohoric broke mutliple ribs that pierced his lung, effectively finishing his season prematurely. His team mates showed great morals in this situation: At the end of the third stage that had to be shortened due to strong winds, Grega Bole sprinted to a 2nd place, and the day after it was Heinrich Haussler who sprinted to 3rd after a late attack from Jan Tratnik had been neutralized.

As for the Queen’s stage, at first Grega Bole rode into the spot lights. Ranked in 3rd in the overall standings after four stages, the experienced rider from Slovenia tried to get a head start over the strong climbers but was caught with 25 kilometers to go. From there Domen Novak showed his class, keeping up with the group of overall contenders on the long climb up to Platak and being the only rider trying to follow Adam Yates’ acceleration with four kilometers to go. Novak entered the finishing straight in 2nd only to get passed by three riders on the last hundred meters and finish in 5th. Thanks to this performance he also moved up to 5th in the overall standings, defending this position without any problems on the last day. At the end of the conclusive stage Jan Tratnik missed out on the first stage win for the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM at this stage race by a mere fifty meters, crossing the finish line in 2nd behind the solo winner.

As for the Giro dell’Emilia, the riders in red, gold and dark blue did not get that close to the victory. The BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM has fond memories of this one-day race as it had scored a spectacular one-two in 2017. At first Vincenzo Nibali rode attentively in the finale, neutralizing a number of attacks with Alejandro Valverde. But with two kilometers to go Nibali’s tank was empty and he had to let a high-quality group go, including all the top finishers.

24TH GRAN PREMIO BRUNO BEGHELLI: MONTEVEGLIO - MONTEVEGLIO, 199.3KM
1. Sonny Colbrelli, ITA/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, in 4:35.59 hours
2. Alejandro Valverde, ESP, st
3. Jack Haig, AUS, st

5TH CRO RACE, STAGE 3: OKRUG - MAKARSKA, 63.5KM
1. Yevgeniy Gidich, KAZ, in 1:32.21 hours
2. Grega Bole, SLO/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, st
3. Alex Edmondson, AUS, st

STAGE 4: STARIGRAD - GORSKI KOTAR, 155KM
1. Dusan Rajovic, SRB, in 3:30.24 hours
2. Paolo Simion, ITA, st
3. Heinrich Haussler, AUS/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, st

STAGE 6: SVETA NEDELJA - ZAGREB, 154KM
1. Alessandro Fedeli, ITA, in 3:22.14 hours
2. Jan Tratnik, SLO/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, + 0.02
3. Florian Kierner, AUT, st