Hard Day at GP Lugano

07 May 2017

Race: Gran Premio Citta di Lugano

Start/Finish: Lugano/Lugano, Switzerland

Distance: 185.6 kilometers

Lugano, Switzerland — The Gran Premio Citta di Lugano is an iconic Swiss race that was moved from early spring to May for the first time this season. In addition to this change on the calendar, the race had a new and significantly more difficult route than previous editions. In its 71^st edition, this year’s race featured eight laps around a 23.2-kilometer loop with a nearly six-kilometer long climb up via Monte Croce and a two-kilometer climb into Gentilino before a technical descent complete with numerous hairpin turns back down to Lugano.

The 185.6-kilometer race started under threatening skies, but the roads remained relatively dry throughout the day. Lozano made an early breakaway that featured around a dozen riders. As they fought to increase their gap, several riders bridged up. By the fifth lap around the hilly 1.HC Swiss race, riders started to jump from Lozano’s group. As the race hit the final two laps around Lake Lugano, Daniel Turek (Cycling Academy), Marco Frapporti (Androni-Giocattoli) and Iuri Filosi (Nippo-Vini Fantini) escaped off the front. On the final lap, the trio battled it out, but all the hard work took its toll and part of a chase group nearly caught the leaders heading into the finish. The race came down to Filosi and Frapporti with the Nippo-Vini Fantini rider sprinting to the win.

David Lozano

“Andrea was pretty active on the first climb. It was super fast, and there were lots of attacks. On the first summit, I went with about 14 guys and we worked together really well but other riders kept bridging up. In the end, it was nearly 40 guys. I think I was too active on the final laps and in the end, I was empty and a bit frustrated with myself. I knew today was going to be a hard day, but I expected to be more tired in the end after a hard week of training. It makes me pretty confident for the coming weeks in America.”

Joonas Henttala

“I was well placed in the chase group right behind Lozano and had a near crash on one of the descents. A UAE rider went down right in front of me, and I’m lucky that I didn’t crash, especially with California starting next week. I had great form and I felt strong and confident today, so I’m pretty frustrated that I ended with a DNF next to my name. I don’t think it reflects the race that I was having.”

Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team, returns to racing Sunday, May 14th with the seven-day Tour of California in the United States.

Results: