Gran Piemonte 2020: George Bennett solos to win

George Bennett launched a scorching attack in the final kilometres of Gran Piemonte, laying down 550W for a full minute to see off any challenges as he soloed to victory at the one-day Italian race.

A four-man break was established early on as Joey Rosskopf (CCC Pro Team), Mikkel Honoré (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Callum Scotson (Mitchelton-SCOTT) and Philipp Walsleben (Alpecin-Fenix) got away and built up a lead that stretched to over five minutes at one point.

By the time the break was caught at 8.6km to go it had been whittled down to just Rosskopf and Honoré. By that point, Rosskopf had averaged 295W over 4h 20min in an epic effort, with his normalised power standing at an impressive 330W.

The attacks started on the final climb to La Morra, which the peloton had already covered twice in the race, as Vincenzo Nibali tried to send his Trek-Segafredo team-mate Giulio Ciccone off on an assault on victory. Team Jumbo-Visma’s Bennett was alert and countered, setting off on a solo attack and building up a lead of over 10 seconds with under 5km to go. The New Zealander sustained his incredible effort of 550W for a minute on the 6% gradient to pull away from Team INEOS’s Gianni Moscon, the only rider who was able to go with him momentarily.

Riding on the limit after a rain shower made the roads a tricky prospect, and a chase group of six riders tried to reel Bennett in. UAE Team Emirates’ Diego Ulissi made up ground on Bennett on the final uphill stretch to the finish line, but Bennett held on for the victory. Mathieu van der Poel completed the podium as he won the bunch sprint for third.

Here’s a recap of some of the standout rider data recorded from the race: