Giacomo Nizzolo turned around his recent run of near misses in Boario Terme to claim arguably the biggest victory of his career by winning the Italian tricolour jersey. Nizzolo, who has won the Giro d'Italia points classification victory in the last two editions of the race, got the better of Etixx-Quick Step's Gianluca Brambilla in a two-up sprint.
Nizzolo made the most of his Trek-Segafredo teammates, Marco Coledan, Eugenio Alafaci, Niccolo Bonifazio and Fabio Felline, in the final lap of the 228km course as he made his move in the 17 per cent climb with three kilometres to race.
"Today the race was crazy, I had a lot of friends here cheering for me," said Nizzolo. "I have to give a big thanks to the guys, they did a super job for me today. At the beginning I didn't feel good, but at the end I was really motivated on the final climb."
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Having made his move on the climb which caused the final selection, Nizzolo saw Brambilla attack on the descent but was able to reel him in so the duo arrived under the flamme rouge together. As the quicker finisher of the duo, Nizzolo explained that once inside the final few hundred metres, the realisation of becoming the Italian champion sunk in, he ensured the dream became reality.
"Marco (Coledan) made a very strong pull into the the last climb and stretched out the peloton and I attacked the climb. We were five at the top of the hill and then Brambilla attacked on the downhill and had a gap," he added.
"I went across to him and we were two, and I pulled until the final kilometer. It was then that I realized this could be the right day. Then in the sprint, I won. It is really, really, really an important race for me and I will enjoy the next days and the next year."
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