16/10/2024

Corbin Strong denies Marc Hirschi more one day success in thrilling finale to wet Giro del Veneto 2024

Corbin Strong has taken victory at Giro del Veneto 2024 in a dramatic reduced sprint finale after a thrilling day in the Italian rain.

Heading into the final 60km, a group of five riders held an advantage of around one and a half minutes over the peloton. At just over 45km to go though, all attackers had been caught and the peloton was back at the front of the race. Almost immediately, the attacks restarted though, but it wasn't until Alessandro Tonelli at around 33km to go, that anyone managed to create a 10-second+ gap.

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As the road headed upwards again though, the Italian was quickly reeled in by a Jay Vine acceleration that strung the peloton out with two laps to go. As a result of the Australian's upping of the pace, an elite group moved clear containing Vine and UAE Team Emirates teammate Marc Hirschi, plus notable names such as Filippo Zana, Romain Gregoire, Gianluca Brambilla, Corbin Strong, Marco Frigo and others.

At 19km to go, things regrouped again though, that is except for Brambilla who launched a solo attack in a desperate hope to keep himself ahead of the peloton. As the road started climbing again, once more UAE Team Emirates and Jay Vine reared their heads at the front, setting a brutal pace and reeling back Brambilla. This time, Hirschi pounced following his teammates' work, attacking at just over 14km to go, joined by Gregoire, Zana and Samuele Battistella.

As the ticker turned past 10km to go, the quartet's advantage over the bunch was 15 seconds, but cooperation was far from perfect. Due to that lack of cooperation, the remainder of the peloton was back in touch at 7.5km to go and with just the short, sharp punch to the line as far as climbs still to come, time was running out for a race-winning move.

In the end, no one managed to make a solo attack as victory went down to a reduced uphill sprint. In the fight for the line, Corbin Strong led things out and no one could catch the Israel - Premier Tech star, taking victory ahead of Xandro Meurisse and Roman Gregoire.