00:02Welcome to highlights of the 110th Gran Piemonte, the final stepping stone towards the final monument of the year, Il
00:09Lombardia, on Saturday.
00:11Starting in Asti and finishing in Bra, the race, a parkour which changes every year, changes its characteristics and changes
00:19the kind of rider it might suit as well.
00:22Defending champion was back, Isak del Toro, to see if he could go two in a row, the Mexican with
00:28his brilliant form following on from those Canadian World Championships, but, as always, a brilliant field assembled.
00:35Two riders making their final race today, those riders being Damiano Caruso and Jacopo Mosca.
00:45Starting out in light clouds, but good racing conditions, really, no excuses for top performances, but would it be a
00:54sprint, would it be a reduced group, or would we see one rider ride away from everyone, as Isak del
01:00Toro had done?
01:01Well, it was Jacopo Mosca who was the first to attack in his final day of racing, and then we
01:05had a leading group, initially, of nine riders, who became eight as well.
01:09It was a strong working group, including one of this year's Giro stage winners, Gavide Ballarini, in there.
01:16And the chase was being led by UA Team Emirates, for Isak del Toro, and Jaco Alula, thinking of a
01:23very informed Michael Matthews, should it come down to a reduced group sprint.
01:27Well, once they'd got the middle hills of the Lange out of the way, it was into the La Mora
01:33circuit, and the first ascent of La Mora saw our breakaway of eight, splitting in two.
01:39The chase was on, and now it was very much UAE Team Emirates who were leading that chase as well,
01:45including using Brando McNulty, the newly crowned world champion, of course, and Benoit Cosnefoix, who was in devastating form.
01:52It was Cosnefoix who was closing out the gap all the time to the top of the La Mora climb,
01:57and on the first ascent of it, that's where eventually the day's breakaway would be reeled back in.
02:03But it wasn't over in terms of attacking, that was for sure.
02:06Valentin Ferron and Santiago Umba, the final riders who did actually make it over the top, but not too long
02:13before they were caught.
02:14This was the first lap of the La Mora circuit, and at the end of it, they actually went past
02:20the turn to the finish line in Brasse as well, so an insight into where they had to go, but
02:26one more ascent of La Mora for any of the fast men in this field to try to survive.
02:33But this was the phase of the race where net company INEOS started to work that little bit harder as
02:38well, thinking about Dorian Godin in a very fast finishing team, but before they could, on the ascent of La
02:46Mora, it was Isaac Del Toro who'd attacked, and he'd taken with him Finn Fisher Black.
02:51Now, Finn Fisher Black was the only rider who could go with Isaac Del Toro, but Del Toro attacked him
02:55before the top of the La Mora climb, and had a slender lead over the peloton, which was definitely not
03:01giving up.
03:02The other person who wasn't giving up was Finn Fisher Black, the Kiwi riding back on to Isaac Del Toro,
03:08not something we see often either, and Del Toro knew he needed to try and hold off Finn Fisher Black,
03:14because the Kiwi possesses a lethal finishing sprint.
03:18However, with 1,500 metres to go, they were real back in. It was Movistar who were working initially, thinking
03:25of Uluis Aula, then came the final turn, it was XDS Astana leading in there, but look at this, a
03:31crash up against the barriers, split up the chase in towards the finish as well.
03:35Alberto Betio was in lead-out formation, but suddenly found himself sprinting for the win.
03:39Asdod, Anton Charmig as well, but the trouble is, they had Dorian Godon on their wheel, and Dorian Godon to
03:46take yet another win on the line in Bras, in Grand Piemonte.
03:53And in doing so, he became the first Frenchman for 30 years since Richard Vironc to win this great race.
04:00There was the podium, and Dorian Godon racking up yet another win for net company, Ilios.
04:06Another spectacular addition, and a very deserving winner.
04:11Dorian, this morning, were you confident that it would be a sprint finish?
04:15Yeah, it was less hard than the other year. The weather was fine, so yeah, I suffered a lot today.
04:23I didn't have my best feeling, but the team did an amazing job for me to put me in a
04:30good position.
04:31And then, at the last 2K, I just followed Axel, and he went super smooth, and I just keep everything
04:40after the turn.
04:42I was on third position, I go directly, and I still had to recover. It was super hard finish, and
04:50I gave everything.
04:51I'm so happy with, I think it's my eighth victory of the year, so yeah, one more race in Paris
04:582, and holiday.
05:00You've never won so much in your career as this year. Does it make it your best season so far?
05:06Yeah, I lose a French jersey, but I'm happy to win with net company, Ineos.
05:13Yeah, I'm still young, 30 years old for me. I'm on my best years, and the team gives 100%
05:23for me, so I have a lot of fortune than the other years.
05:29And, yeah, when I have my chance, I think I'm good.
05:35After you won the points classification at the Giro d'Abruzzo, you won the Giro del Lazio, have you found
05:40in Italy the terrain that suits you the most?
05:43Yeah, I like, it's like twisty final, a bit chaotic, and like two minutes all out, I'm better to sprint
05:51with like an effort before.
05:55I have a better sprint than a massive sprint, I'm more a puncher than a sprinter, so yeah, Italy, all
06:04the town is at the top of one hill, so yeah, all the finish line in Italy are hard, so
06:10yeah.
06:10Even I like to race in Italy at the end of the season, I won Bernocchi and Giro de Veneto
06:17a few years ago, so yeah, I'd like to have another race here, a famous one.
06:22Félicitations.
06:24Merci.
06:25Antoine, when you started this race, did you expect to finish on the podium?
06:30Well, they wouldn't expect, but I really hoped for it, I think it's in good shape right now, so I
06:35knew it was a good possibility, and I think this race suit me really well, so I really wanted to
06:40fight for the podium for sure.
06:42Why did you think there was a possibility, we know he was a good climber, not exactly as a sprinter,
06:47and it was a bunch sprint?
06:48Yeah, yeah, I think it was a bunch sprint, yes, but also, you know, it was uphill to the line,
06:52and I knew this kind of sprint really suit me really well, we had like, what's it, one and a
06:56half kilometer wide uphill, so it was a hard sprint, and yeah, I knew it was a lot about positioning
07:01into the last few corners, so yeah, we suit me really well.
07:05How did you realize that you were going to catch Del Toho at Fisher Black?
07:09I knew already that when they attacked, okay, they're two strong guys, but they had some hit when the climb,
07:14and I thought, okay, the peloton is big, so I thought we had a good chance to catch them, and
07:18yeah, luckily we did.
07:20You were on the stage at Tour of Auvergne-Ronalde this year, how important is it for you to finish
07:25the season with the podium here?
07:26Yeah, of course, it's, I think, after I had a big win in the summer, and then I had a
07:32break, and then after the whole autumn has been really good for me, and I've done a lot of good
07:35results, so it's just nice to keep the streak rolling.
07:39Looks like at every race your team, Uno X, does well, how come?
07:43Yeah, I think we're in a really good ridden right now, and I see it, not only me, but there's
07:47a lot of different guys.
07:48We have, I think, 15 different winners this year, so I think that's special for the team atmosphere.
07:54Alberto, you are a Milano-Torino winner.
07:57Your stage win at the Giro d'Italia was in Piemonte.
08:01What inspires you in this region?
08:04Yeah, I like the wine, so in this region is a very popular wine, so I always go here, so
08:10yeah, by the way, today was a good day for me, for the team.
08:16We play ballerini in the breakaway, and in the final we try to go for the sprint with Thomas, but
08:23in the end he crashed.
08:24I did a pretty good job for him, it's a pity, because I think we could finish first and second
08:30otherwise, but yeah, in the end we got a podium, we show our jersey all day basically, so we are
08:38happy.
08:38Tell us about your motivation to do well in the end of the season.
08:43Yeah, because until the finish is not over, we have to stay 100% focused.
08:53This is the spirit of XDS Astana.
08:56We have a big group with many guys competitive, I would say, all over the world, so yeah, I'm happy
09:04that in Italy I can still do something.
09:08And again, because all my teammates did a very good job.
09:14Grazie mille.
09:15Prego.
