Tommaso Bessega wins after a long breakaway in Toledo

Tommaso Bessega won the first edition of the Grand Prix a Toledo Flandriens after making good the breakaway of the day with his teammate Manuel Sanroma. The Italian held his own on the final climbs and was able to unleash his top speed and win.

The day was affected by the high temperatures. Already from the start the pace was high when passing through the first ‘bergs’ or special sections. It was then when a large breakaway was formed that would lose units as the kilometers went by. Tommaso Bessega and Manuel Sanroma rode in the leading group with an advantage that oscillated continuously over a minute and 40 seconds. They overcame the two mountain passes of the day together with the best and once inside the final 40 kilometers with the last special sections to face, the race seemed to be definitively decided for the breakaway.

Tommaso Bessega was able to resist the attacks and finally in the demanding arrival to Toledo he won in a duo sprint with his great top speed. The Italian also won the intermediate sprint prize and the special sprints prize. Manuel Sanroma took fifth place and the team was the best team in the race with Pablo García finishing 15th.

“From kilometer 5 the breakaway was formed with Tommaso and two other riders, who were later joined by Manuel and formed a large group. As the kilometers went by, the riders were dropping off until there were only six riders left with 40 kilometers to go. With 10 kilometers to go there were several attacks to which Tommaso was able to respond and link up on the descent and finally managed to win. Before the start I told them that I would be happy if they showed attitude to dispute the victory. They showed that attitude and managed to win,” explained Miguel Gómez, team manager.

Photos by Ciclismogonzalez