Lorenzo Finn wins Giro d'Italia Next Gen
The Giro d'Italia Next Gen culminated on Sunday with a 22.2-kilometre individual time trial into L'Aquila. Irishman Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) set a strong time among the favourites, but the pink jersey was unstoppable; Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe Rookies) went two seconds faster at the intermediate timing point at the 11-kilometre mark, and at the finish, he was 16 seconds to the good.
Stage 8 ITT marks Finn's second stage win of the week, two days after stunning fellow favourites Mateo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z; Ecuador) and Henrique Bravo (Soudal-Quick Step Devo Team; Brazil) to the Monte Livata summit finish. After putting more time into his rivals on stage 7, Finn just had to finish it off in the ITT.
In the end, the young Italian won his home race by two minutes 10 seconds over Ramírez, who was himself 25 seconds ahead of fellow South American Bravo. Two Frenchmen complete the top five in Aubin Sparfel and Rémi Arsac, both riding for Decathlon-CMA CGM's development team.
Stage 8 top 5
- Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe Rookies) 29:03
- Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) +0:16
- Matisse van Kerkhove (Visma-Lease a Bike Development) +0:32
- Aubin Sparfel (Decathlon-CMA CGM Development) +0:46
- Mateo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) +0:54
Final GC top 5
- Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe Rookies)
- Mateo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) +2:10
- Henrique Bravo (Soudal-Quick Step Devo Team +2:35
- Aubin Sparfel (Decathlon-CMA CGM Development) +3:16
- Rémi Arsac (Decathlon-CMA CGM Development) +3:43
