Results Coppa Bernocchi 2025 | Dorian Godon takes photo finish win after frantic day of attacks from Visma & UAE

After a frantic day of racing at the 2025 edition of Coppa Bernocchi, French national champion Dorian Godon has secured victory in a photo finish with Tobias Lund Andresen.

The action began with fast racing from the flag, as several riders tried to form the day’s breakaway on the rolling roads around Legnano. After a flurry of early attacks, six riders eventually went clear: Gianni Vermeersch, Ethan Hayter, Xabier Mikel Azparren, Joel Suter, Samuel Quaranta, and Alexandre Balmer.

Balmer lost ground with an early mechanical but managed to regain contact as the move’s lead settled around two minutes. Behind, Team Visma | Lease a Bike took control of the peloton to protect their leader Matthew Brennan. Through the repeated ascents of the Caramamma climb — 1.6km at 6.8% — the gap began to fall steadily, and the break was finally caught with just over 60 km remaining.

No sooner had the peloton regrouped than Sepp Kuss launched a counterattack, sparking a major reshuffle at the front. The American was joined by Michael Matthews, Albert Philipsen, Benjamin Thomas and Jordan Labrosse, creating a dangerous lead group that quickly carved out a small advantage.

As the race hit the next climb, their gap stretched to 20 seconds, prompting a reaction behind. Natnael Tesfatsion jumped clear from the peloton, followed by Jay Vine, who in turn dragged across several strong names, including Brennan, Quinten Hermans, Vincenzo Albanese, Mikkel Honoré, Andrea Bagioli and Bjorn Koerdt.

By 43 km to go, Brennan and Hermans had surged clear of the chasers and were closing fast on the Kuss group, making the junction a few kilometres later alongside a hard-working Vine. Tesfatsion, who had driven much of the chase, couldn’t follow the pace over the final ascent of Caramamma.

At 32 km to go, the new lead group featured a formidable mix of climbers and puncheurs: Kuss, Vine, Matthews, Brennan, Philipsen, Thomas, Hermans, Labrosse, Albanese, Honoré, Bagioli and Koerdt. The peloton hovered at around 45 seconds, slowly reducing the deficit as the closing circuits approached.

The tension built as the race entered its final phase. With 26 km remaining, the leaders’ advantage was down to half a minute. The peloton loomed just 14 seconds back by the 22 km mark, and Jay Vine sensed his moment — attacking hard to open a small gap as the bunch closed in.

The Australian briefly went clear, but his move was short-lived. With 18 km to go, Vine was caught by the rest of the leading group just as Kuss began to fade, slipping seven seconds behind. The peloton remained within striking distance at 24 seconds, setting up a nail-biting run-in to Legnano.

With 4km to go, the peloton were still just behind the leaders without having managed to complete the catch. With the inevitability growing however, Albanese sensed his moment to attack at the front and moved clear solo. By the time they reached the final 2km to go though, the catch was finally completed and all the attackers were back in the bunch.

That still didn't mean the bunch sprint was guaranteed though. Immediately after the catch, a counter was launched by Alessandro Covi, with Quinn Simmons quickly onto the Italian's back wheel. For a moment, the move looked dangerous too, but with 400m to go they were caught. In the subsequent sprint, it was then a photo finish that decided the day, with Dorian Godon eventually being awarded the win ahead of Tobias Lund Andresen.