Vauquelin wins to clinch Abruzzo GC

Kévin Vauquelin produced a perfectly timed uphill sprint to win on the final stage of Il Giro d'Abruzzo, and with it, claim victory in the General Classification.

The Frenchman had pushed clear heading into the final 30 kilometres of the race on a tough finishing circuit. On the run-in he kept his cool, overhauling the acceleration of Mathys Rondel (Tudor) to secure his first victory in Netcompany INEOS colours.

Bonus seconds also saw Vauquelin wrap up the GC by two seconds as the race went down to the wire. The pair had gone clear alongside Nicola Conci (XDS Astana) at the bell in Controguerra, opening out a gap of over a minute to the chasing peloton.

Dorian Godon completed a very strong race by leading home the bunch in fourth place, taking sixth position overall to back up his compatriot. 

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Kévin Vauquelin: "It’s really cool. To win now is a liberation! A lot of things are happening in my head now but I’m really happy. We had a strong team and for a few days we were close to winning. Today we won and I won the GC. To cross the line in first is an incredible emotion!

"Today was just about the legs. Today I felt really good and I said to the team we should be careful and follow the good moves. At the top we were three with Conci and Rondel, and I said 'okay it’s still far to the finish line'. But there weren't a lot of riders who could close the gap. We were three [riders] with the same level as we saw on the climb. Then I had confidence in my sprint and that’s it.



"Now I think it’s really positive and good for the next weeks and next goals."