Ilan van Wilder achieved an impressive victory on Tuesday at Tre Valli Varesine, outpacing the top favorites and winning the Italian classic ahead of Richard Carapaz and Aleksandr Vlasov.
The breakaway of the day in this mountainous race proved to be strong, featuring Gianluca Brambilla, Gonzalo Serrano, Rémy Rochas, Walter Calzoni, Erik Fetter, Francesco Busatto, and Alessio Martinelli. Action in the peloton began with 75 kilometers to go, and the circuit with many climbs favored those who launched early attacks.
Jan Tratnik and Jay Vine tried their luck, but they were caught 52 kilometers from the finish alongside Aleksandr Vlasov. Later, more dangerous figures like Valentin Madouas and Ben Healy also made their attempts.
However, the breakaway slowly lost riders, and they were caught with 13 kilometers to go at the start of the final series of climbs.
Ion Izagirre launched the first serious attack, but shortly after, Tadej Pogacar made a powerful move and split the group. Tactics started to come into play, with Richard Carapaz and Enric Mas consistently leading the ascents. Taking advantage of a standoff, Ilan van Wilder attacked with 9 kilometers to go.
The chasing group saw very little collaboration, and the gap grew to 15 seconds. It seemed like it could be closed, but on the final climb, the ascents were never too steep, and the top favorites couldn’t bridge the gap. In fact, no one took the risk early on, and van Wilder went on to a sensational victory, which may be the last victory for Soudal Quick-Step.
Richard Carapaz successfully attacked near the final kilometer and secured second place on the day. Aleksandr Vlasov took third place. Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic missed the podium.
Watch the finish:
Results of Tre Valli Varesini 2023:
