Godon claims victory with pitch-perfect sprint at Gran Piemonte

Dorian Godon (Netcompany-Ineos) sprinted to victory in Bra to win the 110th edition of Gran Piemonte on Thursday afternoon after defending champion Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) were caught by the peloton with just 1.5km remaining.

After UAE had taken control in the peloton for the majority of the race, Del Toro launched his attack on the final ascent to La Morra with 18.1km remaining.

Only Fisher-Black was able to respond to the Mexican champion, and the duo would work together over the rest of the climb to establish a strong advantage before the gradients eased before the final run-in to Bra. 

With 13.8km remaining, Del Toro attacked Fisher-Black up and over the crest of the climb and managed to distance the Kiwi, while the peloton were just under 30 seconds remaining. However, Fisher-Black managed to return to the head of the race on the descent with 9km remaining. 

The rest of the race would play out as a game of cat and mouse between the duo and the peloton. 

Ultimately, the leading duo were caught with just 1.4km remaining, before attention switched to the final sprint finish. 

Movistar led under the flamme rouge, before there was a crash in the final 200m. In the end, it would come down to a shootout between Godon, Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) and Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) after avoiding the chaos, with the Frenchman coming out on top. Charmig took second, and Bettiol took third.

After the rolling start in Asti, an eight-rider breakaway formed featuring Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), Alex Díaz (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Valentin Ferron (Cofidis), Germán Darío Gómez (Polti VisitMalta), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ United), Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Santiago Umba (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) and Luc Wirtgen (Tudor). 

The breakaway started to split on the first ascent to La Morra with 55km remaining, with Ferron, Rolland and Umba going clear.

The problem was, their advantage was already around the 30-second mark thanks to the work of UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the head of the peloton. 

Rolland was reeled in with 46km remaining, with the remaining duo holding out for another 6km before they were swallowed up by the relentless pace of UAE. 

The Emirati team continued to turn the screw with 30km remaining as Benoît Cosnefory drove the pace as the road rose towards Cherasco, and this saw splits form in the peloton. 

However, the groups knitted together again as UAE notably stopped pacing at the front as the peloton hit the first of the climb to La Morra for the final time with 20km remaining. 

Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL) launched the first attack on the climb, which 2024 winner Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) responded to. The duo stretched out the peloton rather than breaking clear. 

Picnic PostNL remained active once more with an effort from Alexandre Trouvain with 19km to go, but UAE had some presence towards the front again with Jhonatan Narváez, who closed the move and then did the same to Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ United).

The Ecuadorian then turned the tables by accelerating with 18.1km remaining before Del Toro appeared at the front and immediately launched a powerful attack. 

Fisher-Black tried frantically to latch himself onto the wheel of the Mexican Champion, and managed to do so, while Narvaez and the world champion Brandon McNulty featured in the next group on the road, marking attacks. 

Del Toro managed to distance his companion just before the top of the climb with 13.8km remaining, embarking on a solo effort as he tried to hold off the chasing peloton.

However, Fisher-Black would return once more on the descent and this would ultimately add a tactical element for Del Toro to contend with.