Giro d’Abruzzo: Alessandro Fancellu Wins the First Stage

The Giro d’Abruzzo kicked off with Alessandro Fancellu taking the spotlight. The Lombard rider from MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort won the Cupello–Casalincontrada stage with a decisive sprint on the final climb to the finish line, allowing him to finish 2 seconds ahead of his closest pursuers.

The opening stage of the short stage race in central Italy was marked by a long breakaway by Emanuele Ansaloni and Filippo D’Aiuto. Thanks to the points he earned at the Colle dei Ferrari mountain pass, D’Aiuto also claimed the first Maglia Azzurra. However, the breakaway by the leading duo was caught by the peloton 1,500 meters from the finish line. In the final stretch, the favorites launched a series of attacks, with Fancellu himself, Nicolò Garibbo, and Mathys Rondel particularly active.

At the 400-meter mark, after a failed attempt by the French rider, the stage winner launched his decisive attack, to which no one could respond. The rider from Como thus broke away alone toward the finish line, also claiming the Leader’s Jersey.

Fancellu finished 2 seconds ahead of Mathys Rondel and Diego Ulissi; Kevin Vauquelin, Nicolò Garibbo, Ludovico Crescioli, and Nicola Conci also finished with the same gap.