'I picked the right moment' - Piganzoli reveals the Visma plan behind Giro dell'Emilia triumph

Davide Piganzoli won the Giro dell'Emilia from a move his team had set up, with Ben Tulett kept in reserve as a faster finisher should the attack fail.

"I picked the right moment to attack, and it paid off," Piganzoli said. "We had several cards to play. We handled this race perfectly as a team. It means a lot to me to add this great race to my palmarès."

Team Visma | Lease a Bike brought back the eight-man breakaway on the local circuits in Bologna and then put three riders into the decisive group. Matteo Jorgenson made the selection after the third of five ascents of San Luca, alongside Tom Pidcock, Ben Healy and world champion Brandon McNulty, with Piganzoli and Tulett bridging across on the descent.

Jorgenson attacked on the penultimate climb, taking only Healy and Oscar Onley with him, before Pidcock's chase brought the group back together.

Piganzoli went on the descent that followed, with 4.8 kilometres remaining.

"On the last climb I told him, I'm going to the front," he said. "They looked at each other a bit behind, and I managed to take the climb with a bit of an advantage."

The decision to commit came from how he was riding rather than any signal from the car.

"I felt good in the closing kilometres, so I decided to go all in. I also wanted to put my teammates in a good position that way. We still had Ben behind us, who has a strong sprint," he said. "In the end I was able to finish it off myself, but this was a victory for the entire team."

Pidcock chased him down the descent and across the closing kilometres without getting across, pulling Adam Yates, Tulett and Lorenzo Fortunato back up to the front in the process. Piganzoli held nine seconds at the line, with Pidcock second and Onley third. Tulett was fourth and Jorgenson fifth.

His victory followed from the overall at the Tour de Luxembourg two weeks ago.

"I'm happy that I was able to show my good form from Luxembourg and the World Championships here again," he said.

Il Lombardia follows next Saturday, and the question was put to him directly after the finish.

"Let's wait and see."