CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious enjoyed strong results yesterday in a pair of road races in Europe.
Nicolo Buratti secured a top-five finish in the sixth stage of the 88th Tour de Suisse in Switzerland, while Alessandro Borgo continued Bahrain Victorious Development Team’s sensational run in the 48th Giro d’Italia Next Gen in Italy, climbing the podium for second place, also in stage six.
In Switzerland, Buratti was part of the leaders’ group in a bunch sprint to the finish, which was led by winner Jordi Meeus of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. He took the 186.7-kilometre leg in four hours 10 minutes 24 seconds.
Finlay Pickering was Bahrain Victorious’ second-best finisher in 55th, while Mathijs Paasschens came 61st, Matej Mohoric 65th, Rainer Kepplinger 101st, and Pello Bilbao 133rd.
Pickering stayed as the team’s top-ranked rider on the race’s general classification (GC) in 18th while also being ranked seventh in the best young rider standings. Bilbao dropped one spot to fourth in the points, and Bahrain Victorious maintained their position in ninth in the teams’ classification.
In Italy, Borgo finished as the stage runner-up just 24 seconds behind winner Filippo Agostinacchio of Biesse-Carrera-Premac.
Teammate Jakob Omrzel came 42nd and continued to hold the race’s white jersey for best young rider. Kasper Borremans finished 62nd, Bryan Olivo was 110th, and Seth Dunwoody came 144th.
With the result, Omrzel maintained his one-minute lead from his closest challenger on the best youth rankings, and also stayed in contention for the overall win, being placed second in the GC, 26 seconds behind Luke Tuckwell of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe Rookies.
In the points classification, Borgo climbed a massive 45 places to eighth, joining Dunwoody in the top 10 where he dropped two spots to fifth. Bahrain Victorious Development Team improved two positions to 14th in the teams’ ranking.
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