Capping off a remarkable week for Bahrain Victorious – highlighted by Afonso Eulálio wearing the Maglia Rosa and Alec Segaert’s stage victory at the Giro d’Italia – the team celebrated another success today as Alessandro Borgo claimed victory at the GP Criquielion in Belgium.
The 21-year-old Italian sprinter won the 31st edition of the race dedicated to Claudy Criquielion, the 1984 World Champion, prevailing in a four-man sprint ahead of Fred Wright (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Pierre Thierry (TotalEnergies), who finished second and third respectively. Gabriele Bessega (Polti VisitMalta) completed the leading quartet, while Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) led the peloton home five seconds later.
The UCI 1.1 race 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 Côte du Mont and Côte 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 kilometres, with attacks and splits across the bunch as teams fought to close the gap to the attackers.
The decisive move came with 16 kilometres remaining, when a select group formed including Alessandro Borgo. The Italian joined three other riders at the front and the quartet quickly established a decisive advantage. Borgo showed his strength by accelerating with 2.4 kilometres to go before positioning himself perfectly behind Fred Wright in the finale. Launching his sprint in the final metres, Borgo powered to his first professional victory.
An emotional Borgo commented this powerful win after the finish line: “”It has been a fantastic day for me and the team. It was the first race where I had the chance to be the leader and I took 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 Matevž 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.”
Sports Director Nikolas Maes praised both the team effort and Borgo’s performance:
“From the beginning we were very attentive and committed to making the race hard enough. All seven riders were fully dedicated to the plan and the race developed quite smoothly for us, especially with Max van der Meulen in the breakaway. Together with Lotto we decided to increase the pressure with two laps to go. We really put the hammer down to make it difficult for the pure sprinters, especially Tim Merlier and Soudal Quick-Step, to control the race. On the final climbs we gave the green light to Pau Miquel and Alessandro Borgo to attack again, and Alessandro executed it perfectly. He got away in a group of four riders, including Fred Wright. 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. Yesterday, at Veenendaal, we were disappointed with our performance, but today the riders reacted in the best possible way and deserved this victory.”
On Italian territory, Afonso Eulálio goes into the second rest day with the white jersey and remains second overall after another fast day at the Giro d’Italia. The team stayed focused on keeping him safe through the flat run into Milan and the final city circuit, avoiding trouble before the race enters its final week. The Portuguese rider will now restart on Tuesday from a strong position in the GC, with the race heading back into the mountains on Stage 16 from Bellinzona to Carì.
