Coppa Bernocchi: Wout van Aert wins from Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step heavy break

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won the Coppa Bernocchi one-day race after unleashing an unstoppable sprint to the line on Monday.

The Belgian beat Vincenzo Albanese (EOLO-Kometa) and Andrea Bagioli (Soudal Quick-Step) to the line after Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step dominated the race-winning break.

The two superpower teams, who are currently linked by a potential merger ahead of the 2024 season, had three riders each in the final break that formed over the top of the final ascent of the Piccoli Stelvio.

Van Aert was joined by teammates Tiesj Benoot and Jan Tratnik, while Soudal Quick-Step had Bagioli, Julian Alaphilippe and Fausto Masnada to count on.

Read more: Talk of the Visma-Soudal merger is 'a bit tiresome', says Julian Alaphilippe

There were few attacks in the closing kilometres with only a tentative move coming from Alaphilippe in the last 2km.

Coming into the finish Benoot hit the front with Van Aert on his wheel, and despite opening his sprint from a long way out the Jumbo-Visma leader had more than enough to hold off the late charge from the opposition.

"It's a nice feeling, especially after a season where I missed out on quite some occasions on the win. It feels nice to raise the hands again and especially with the team performance we did today," the winner said at the finish.

"I want to dedicate this victory to the people who keep on believing in me: my family, my trainer Mark and of course, my team. Today all seven guys on the start line were committed to controlling the race and this we did until the very end, so it feels very good to finish it off. "

Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), who recently finished second at the Coppa Agostoni - Giro delle Brianze, claimed fourth on the line, while Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) finished 10th after leading the peloton home, over a minute down on Wout van Aert.

Read more: Coppa Agostoni: Davide Formolo solos home in 1-2 for UAE Team Emirates alongside Marc Hirschi

Piccoli Stelvio defines the race

The early stage of the race had seen a six-rider move head up the road with Larry Warbasse (AG2R Citroën), Floris De Tier (Bingoal WB), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny), Alessio Cialone (Vendée U), Michael Belleri (Biesse - Carrera), and Jeferson Armando Ruiz Acuña (GW Shimano-Sidermec) forming part of the early alliance.

The group were never allowed to enjoy a healthy buffer with their biggest gap hovering at just over two minutes and Jumbo-Visma and Alpecin-Deceuninck set the pace at the front of the peloton.

Only Warbasse, De Tier and Moniquet were left as the break dipped under the final 50km but 12km later the entire race reformed as Jumbo-Visma set about controlling the peloton with a relentless pace. Sam Oomen, in one of his final appearances for the Dutch team, was instrumental in Jumbo’s dominance, before Benoot and then Tratnik took over.

On the seventh and final ascent of the Piccoli Stelvio, the Jumbo pace splintered the peloton with only nine riders able to keep pace. In the second group, Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla) attempted to chase for teammate Michael Matthews but the Australian pair would be left empty-handed as Quick-Step and Jumbo worked together to buttress their advantage in the final 35km.

With 10km there was no chance of a second group coming back and with a sprinter each in Van Aert and Bagioli, both Jumbo and Soudal Quick-Step were content to orchestrate a sprint. In the end, it was Jumbo and Wout van Aert who took the spoils, with Albanese the only rider able to break the WorldTour teams' monopoly on the podium.