Veteran Dutchman claims third place after a smart and spirited ride in the Italian classic!
Bauke Mollema showed he’s still got that trademark grit and race smarts today with a strong third-place finish at Gran Piemonte. With a mix of youth and experience lining up for us today, Bauke showed the young guys how it’s done! We had both Liam O’Brien and Nils Aebersold from the Future Racing team join the men’s team in the beautiful Piemonte region and they were put straight to work, controlling the race from the start. It was a fast, unpredictable day out on the road, but the guys stayed calm and sharp from start to finish. The team was lucky in having two cards to play when things started to heat up with both Bauke and the in-form, Andrea Bagioli.
In the final kilometers, as the pace ramped up and the bunch began to splinter, our guys were well represented. Sam Oomen, O’Brien, Jacopo Mosca, Bagioli and Bauke made all the right moves. The experienced Bauke sensed the danger so turned defensive ridging into attacking, timing his effort to perfection. With a podium spot on the line, he dug deep and came through with a solid third place, a well-earned reward for a savvy ride. It’s his first podium spot in three years and it shows that he’s peaking just in time for a race he’s previously won before – Il Lombardia. Andrea Bagioli rounded out the top 10 with yet another consistent ride for the man on home soil.
From Bauke..
It's been awhile since I've been on a podium so it feels really nice, especially in a hard one day race like today. Del Toro was simply too strong but it was nice to be up there in the final and to come close. It was great to be in that front group and to start the second last climb with a little advantage but 1km into the climb I heard Del Toro was already coming across so I tried to save a little bit so I could survive the steep part and stay in his wheel for a little bit longer. It was just the last little kick before the descent that he went so fast and that was it. It was nice to be together with Hirschi and to fight to the line but he just got the better of me in the sprint.
