CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious celebrated another major success yesterday as Alessandro Borgo claimed a sensational victory at the GP Criquielion in Belgium, capping off a remarkable week that was highlighted by Afonso Eulalio wearing the Maglia Rosa and Alec Segaert’s stage victory at the Giro d’Italia.
Borgo won the 31st edition of the race – marking the maiden triumph of his young professional cycling career – dedicated to Claudy Criquielion, the 1984 world champion.
He prevailed in a frantic, four-man sprint to the finish, narrowly beating out Fred Wright of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team and Pierre Thierry of TotalEnergies, along with Gabriele Bessega of Polti VisitMalta, who completed the leading quartet.
The event covered 205 kilometres between Ath and Lessines in Wallonie and featured an undulating parcours with 1,837 metres of elevation gain, including repeated ascents of the Cote du Mont and Cote de Hurdumont, as well as five passages over the cobbled Rue la Blanche sector in Lessines.
The peloton remained largely compact through the opening phase before a breakaway formed featuring Bahrain Victorious rider Max van der Meulen. As expected, the race exploded inside the final 50 km, with attacks and splits across the bunch as teams fought to close the gap to the attackers.
The decisive move came with 16 km remaining, when a select group formed including Borgo. The 21-year-old Italian sprinter joined three other riders at the front and the quartet quickly established a decisive advantage.
Borgo showed his strength by accelerating with 2.4 km to go before positioning himself perfectly behind Wright in the finale, launching his sprint in the final metres.
“It has been a fantastic day for me and the team,” said an emotional Borgo after the race. “It was the first race where I had the chance to be the leader and I t ook on the responsibility, even managing to win. Therefore, I’m super happy to add the first success of my professional career to the tally.
“The team worked incredibly well all day long. We had two cards to play in this race – either a restricted group with me or a bunch sprint with Matevz Govekar. I managed to attack and stay in front, and in the final sprint, I pipped Fred on the line.
“What can I say? I won! I couldn’t be happier.”
Bahrain Victorious’ sports director Nikolas Maes praised both the team effort and Borgo’s performance. “On the final climbs, we gave the green light to Pau Miquel and Alessandro to attack again, and Alessandro executed it perfectly,” Maes explained. “He got away in a group of four riders. We knew it would be close, but we also believed in his chances.
“In the finale we expected Wright to launch early, so Alessandro stayed patient on his wheel and timed his sprint perfectly. He’s fast, clever and today he proved that with strong legs he can finish the job.
“Overall, the whole team did a fantastic job.”
&uuid=(email))