Michael Woods fifth at Milano-Torino, Roglič takes the day’s flowers

Primoz Roglič earned his 60th win in five years and second in four days on Wednesday by taking the 102nd Milano-Torino. In fifth place was Michael Woods, who won the 2019 edition of the world’s oldest race first been held in 1876, and he was runner-up in 2016. Woods was third in Saturday’s Giro dell’Emilia. Both riders are preparing for Saturday’s final Monument of the season, Il Lombardia, the Race of the Falling Leaves.

The Course

Wednesday’s race would come down to two circuits, each ending with an ascent of Superga, a 4.9 km climb of 9.8 percent outside Torino. In total, this 1.Pro-rated race was 190 km.

The oldest race in the world, #MilanoTorino will be underway in just a couple of minutes.

Good luck to our riders:
1 @alafpolak1
2 @JooAlmeida98
3 @3sdevenyns
4 @masnada_fausto
5 #JasonOsborne
6 @Pieter_Serry
7 @MVansevenant99 pic.twitter.com/Ds0sQrHx6b

— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) October 6, 2021

A sextet of fugitives representing five ProTeams and one WorldTour team loped away and started its assault on the Zimone climb near the middle of the route with a 3:00 lead.

A surprise came before the race entered the first circuit. Deceuninck-Quick Step split the peloton, captured the escapees and established six of their riders in a new move. Woods, Chris Froome, Roglič, Tadej Pogačar and Alejandro Valverde were in the 25-rider break.

Superga I

On the first climb, the breakaway shattered. World champion Julian Alaphilippe, Woods, Valverde, Roglič and Pogačar all made the selection. Adam Yates, David Guadu, Alexandr Vlasov, Nairo Quintana, and Bauke Mollema all bridged over on Superga’s slopes.

Deceuninck-Quick Step sent Mauri Vansevenant up the road before the crest. He took a 25-second gap onto the foot of the concluding climb.

Mountain top finish

Rafal Majka (Poland/UAE-Emirates), who did a lot of the work to bring back Vansevenat, attacked as soon as Superga kicked up. Alaphilippe joined him and then both blew. Yates brought Valverde, Woods, João Almeida and the Slovenians over to Vansevenant.

With Yates continuing to storm, Woods and Valverde popped. Yates, Roglič, Pogačar and Almeida now led.

The next time that Yates made a thrust, only Roglič could hang. Yates and Roglič had 17 seconds over Pogačar at the red kite.

With Pogačar closing at 400 metres to go, Yates attacked and Roglič had to claw the Brit back and then easily dispatched him for the victory. It was Roglič’s 13th triumph of 2021. Almeida completed the podium.

102nd Milano-Torino
1) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) 4:17:41
2) Adam Yates (Great Britain/Ineos Grenadiers) +0:12
3) João Almeida (Portugal/Deceuninck-Quick Step) +0:35
5) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +0:48