Felline wins the Giro dell'Appennino

Brambilla shows talent, second ahead of Reda

Fabio Felline (Androni Giocattoli) won the sprint of about 20 riders at the end of the Giro dell'Appenino, with Gianluca Brambilla (Colnago - CSF Inox) and Francesco Reda (Acqua & Sapone) coming in second an third. After a total of seven categorized climbs, the 22-year-old still found his top finishing speed while climbers such as Michele Scarponi (Lampre) launched unsuccessful attacks.

The mountainous course from Novi Ligure to Genova inevitably split up the field. After about 30 kilometres, a handful of riders got away: Enrico Rossi (Meridiana - Karmen), Andrea Palini (Team Idea), Federico Rocchetti (Utensilnord), Marco Canola (Colnago-CSF), Matthias Brändle (NetApp), Marko Kump (Adria Mobil).

The group did not last long however, as the Passo della Bocchetta after 130 kilometres saw the field come back on the remaining three escapists (Canola, Rocchetti and Brändle). A mighty counter-attack saw Michele Scarponi (Lampre), Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox) and Carlos Betancur (Acqua & Sapone) take the trio back, while about 20 riders formed a chase group behind.

Felline's Androni teammates put on the pace and while the trio had 40 seconds advantage on the penultimate climb of Castagnola, they managed to reel them back in with ten kilometres to go, setting up the sprint. A confident Felline did not wait long on the finishing straight and led the group home in front all the way, making it impossible for anyone to come round him.

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