Nicolo Buratti wins the 12th Grand Prix of Slovenian Istria

The race was marked by a six-man breakaway, dynamic final laps, and a sprint of a group of around fifty riders, in which Italy’s Nicolo Buratti proved the fastest, ahead of Russia’s Vlas Shichkin and Slovakia’s Samuel Novak. The best-placed Slovenian was Marcel Gladek, while Simone Zanini collected the most points at the intermediate sprints.

This year’s course underwent a significant change, with the start and finish moved to Industrijska cesta. The four main laps were ridden in the opposite direction, taking riders from Izola via Belvedere and through Strunjan to Lucija and Sečovlje, then into the Dragonja valley. The longest climb to Šmarje near Koper continued over the rolling terrain, followed by a demanding and at times slippery descent into Izola, which also caused several crashes. After four longer laps, the riders still had three shorter laps and three intermediate sprints to contest.

No major selection on the long laps

The race unfolded as expected. A six-man breakaway formed in the first lap, featuring Rory Gravelle (Tirol KTM Cycling Team), Luke Meyer-Eland (Maxsolar-Raymon), Milan Kadlec (Kasper-Crypto4me), Martin Voltr (ATT Investment), Mate Endredi (Team United Shipping), and Konrad Czabok (Voster Team).

The peloton accelerated in the third lap, catching the breakaway. The last of the six, Milan Kadlec, was caught right at the start of the fourth main lap. The race was open again, and Erik Fetter (Team United Shipping), who finished tenth in Slovenian Istria last year, attacked on the final climb to Šmarje. Michele Bonometti (Gallina Coteck Lucchini) was chasing but was caught at the top, while Fetter held on until Izola. The first intermediate sprint was taken by Piotr Pekala (ATT Investments), who managed to gain a small gap over the already reduced leading group.

With around 20 kilometres to go, Filippo Agostinacchio (Biesse-Carrera-Premac) and Simone Zanini (XDS Astana Development Team) went on the attack. Zanini, who had already placed third at the first intermediate sprint, finished second at the next and then took maximum points at the third to secure the points classification.

Expected sprint of a reduced peloton

The duo was only caught just under five kilometres from the finish. In the final two kilometres, a few riders still managed to open small gaps, but the race remained under control, particularly thanks to the MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort team. Their all-day effort was rewarded in the sprint by 24-year-old Nicolo Buratti, who claimed his first professional victory. Vlas Shichkin (Lokomotiv Manas) finished second, and Samuel Novak (Tirol KTM Cycling Team) third.

After the race, Nicolo Buratti said: “Really nice feeling … very nice. Winning is never easy, right? The race was hard and as a team we tried to give our best. We made the race demanding, and in the final there were a lot of attacks, so it was quite tough. I really have to thank my teammates – they did a very good job. Then I went all-out to the finish. Honestly, I don’t even know how many riders were left in the group. In the end, the selection was made on the descent, because the climb wasn’t hard enough to create bigger gaps.”

The best Slovenian was Marcel Gladek (Factor Racing) in tenth place. He launched his sprint from second position but faded slightly in the end. “I can be quite satisfied with the whole day,” Gladek said at the finish. “I had Bradač and Marolt with me all day. The first goal was achieved after the four long laps, as I knew the long climb could be the biggest issue for me, but I think I held a very good position all day and got over it practically without problems. In the end, Adam Bradač did a very good job, I opened my sprint 250 metres from the line, but I just lacked a bit at the finish. Still, I can be satisfied.”

Grand Prix of Novo Mesto next week

The Slovenian road racing season and the Slovenia Cup had already kicked off on Saturday with the Grand Prix of the Municipality of Piran, organised by KD Rog, featuring women’s and junior categories. The next international race will be the Grand Prix of Novo Mesto on Sunday,. The course remains the same, with a loop through Bela krajina and finishing laps around Novo mesto.