2014 Coppa Ugo Agostoni (1.1), Italy
68th edition: Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Coppa Agostoni podium history | Coppa Agostoni photos | 2015 edition
Lissone - Lissone, 199.6 km
Niccolo Bonifazio wins the 2014 Coppa Agostoni. Photo ©Sirotti
The Race: This seemed to be a race Lampre-Merida really wanted to win. Nine riders escaped early. With 60 kilometers to go another nine tried to bridge to the break, but could not close the gap.
The original escape was finally caught with seven kilometers remaining. From there Lampre-Merida tried to control the race, initially planning to launch Sacha Modolo. But it was surprise winner Niccolo Bonifazio who took the honors. This is his first race victory in Italy and the third of his career, having won stage six of the Tour of Japan and the Sakei Criterium. This also made 22 victories this season for Lampre-Merida.
Teammate and World Road Champion Rui Costa did domestique duties for the young Bonifazio, leaving the race winner deeply moved by having such a prestigious rider help him. This might well have been Costa's last appearance racing in rainbow stripes unless he repeats and wins in Ponferrada next week.
More photos posted below results.
Complete Results:
Winner's average speed: 44.795 km/hr
| 1 | Niccolo Bonifazio | Lampre-Merida | 4hr 27min 21sec |
| 2 | Grega Bole | Vini Fantini | all @ s.t. |
| 3 | Simone Ponzi | Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo | |
| 4 | Enrico Battaglin | Bardiani-CSF | |
| 5 | Andrea Fedi | Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo | |
| 6 | Andrea Piechele | Bardiani-CSF | |
| 7 | Sergey Lagutin | RusVelo | |
| 8 | Davide Mucelli | Meridiana Kamen | |
| 9 | Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez | Colombia | |
| 10 | Thomas Sprengers | Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
| 11 | Kristijan Koren | Cannondale | |
| 12 | Mirko Selvaggi | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
| 13 | Maciej Paterski | CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
| 14 | Nicola Gaffurini | Vega-Hotsand | |
| 15 | Angel Madrazo Ruiz | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
| 16 | Anthony Delaplace | Bretagne-Séché Environnement | |
| 17 | Kevin Ledanois | Bretagne-Séché Environnement | |
| 18 | Simone Petilli | Area Zero | |
| 19 | Matteo Busato | MG Kvis | |
| 20 | Bartosz Huzarski | NetApp-Endura | |
| 21 | Paolo Tiralongo | Astana | |
| 22 | Fabio Taborre | Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo | |
| 23 | Artem Ovechkin | RusVelo | |
| 24 | Sergei Pomoshnikov | RusVelo | |
| 25 | Lorenzo Rota | MG Kvis | |
| 26 | Vegard Stake Laengen | Bretagne-Séché Environnement | |
| 27 | Michel Kreder | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
| 28 | Jack Haig | Australia | |
| 29 | Franco Pellizotti | Androni Giocattoli | |
| 30 | Dennis Van Niekerk | MTN-Qhubeka | |
| 31 | Simone Velasco | Italy | |
| 32 | Davide Vigano | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
| 33 | Ilnur Zakarin | RusVelo | |
| 34 | Antonio Santoro | Meridiana Kamen | |
| 35 | Tiago Machado | NetApp-Endura | |
| 36 | Davide Rebellin | CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
| 37 | Robert Power | Australia | |
| 38 | Gianni Moscon | Italy | |
| 39 | Alessandro Bisolti | Vini Fantini | |
| 40 | Diego Rosa | Androni Giocattoli | |
| 41 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Bretagne-Séché Environnement | |
| 42 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa | Lampre-Merida | |
| 43 | Branislau Samoilau | CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
| 44 | Alexsandr Dyachenko | Astana | |
| 45 | Vincenzo Nibali | Astana | |
| 46 | Alan Marangoni | Cannondale | |
| 47 | Andrea Zordan | Androni Giocattoli | |
| 48 | Marco Minnaard | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
| 49 | Angelo Pagani | Bardiani-CSF | |
| 50 | Luca Dodi | Lampre-Merida | |
| 51 | Francesco Failli | Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo | |
| 52 | Ruben Fernandez | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
| 53 | Mirko Tedeschi | IDE | |
| 54 | Kevin Seeldraeyers | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
| 55 | José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes | NetApp-Endura | |
| 56 | Simone Andreetta | Italy | |
| 57 | Gianfranco Zilioli | Androni Giocattoli | |
| 58 | Francesco Manuel Bongiorno | Bardiani-CSF | |
| 59 | Paolo Ciavatta | Area Zero | |
| 60 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Italy | |
| 61 | Mattia Cattaneo | Lampre-Merida | |
| 62 | Ricardo Pichetta | IDE |
Luca Paolini at the start. Photo ©Sirotti
Peter Sagan. Photo ©Sirotti
The Bretagne-Seche Environnement team is ready to race. Photo ©Sirotti
Ivan Basso. Photo ©Sirotti
Franco Pellizotti before the race. Photo ©Sirotti
Paolo Tiralongo leads an escape attempt. Photo ©Sirotti
Miyazawa Takashi does his share of the work. Photo ©Sirotti
Rui Costa, wearing Rainbow stripes for about the last time, with race winner Bonifazio tucked in behind him. Photo ©Sirotti
As they head for the line Bonifazio has the race won. Photo ©Sirotti
Indeed, Bonifazio gets the race win. Photo ©Sirotti
Tour de France winner and Italian Road Champion Vincenzo Nibali finishes the race. Photo ©Sirotti
Race winner Niccolo Bonifazio. Photo ©Sirotti
The podium, from left: Grega Bole, Niccolo Bonifazio and Simone Ponzi. Photo ©Sirotti