For the first time in his professional career, Alpecin-Deceuninck's Stan van Tricht was able to celebrate victory on Monday afternoon at Coppa Bernocchi 2024. Perfect timing too as he looks to secure a ride for the 2025 season.
"I'm very happy," reflected the 25-year-old Belgian with a smile in his post-race interview, having powered to victory in a thrilling finale ahead of Alex Baudin and Roger Adria. "It was a difficult season, but in the last few weeks I found my good legs again."
Having spent most of the day in the break, Van Tricht was dropped by companion Bart Lemmen heading into the finale. But as Van Tricht dropped back into chasing group, Lemmen was caught inside the final kilometre where a subsequent seven up sprint decided the day, with victory going to Van Tricht.
"I was able to ride the perfect race today with the early breakaway. I knew we could go far, because the rainy weather was also good for the leading group," Van Tricht concludes. "I knew I had to be smart and stay in the group. I knew I had the best sprint, but it's always difficult when they jump away from behind you. I saw Neilson Powless attacking and knew I had to go."