Luca Colnaghi celebrates at the 2025 Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria Tour. The VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan rider claims his first professional victory by beating Davide Bais (Polti VisitMalta) and young Lorenzo Finn (Italian National Team), class of 2006, who was a major protagonist of the day with numerous attacks and his first podium among professionals. The three had gained an advantage about 20 km from the finish, escaping the control of the reduced group after the climbs of Piano Maschera and Monte Sant'Elia.

The race flew by at almost 48 km/h average in the first hour, with a breakaway of 3 riders formed by Matteo Spreafico (Mg.K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente), Tommaso Rigatti (Gragnano) and Finnish rider Sampo Malinen (Monzon-Incolor-Gub) who, after gaining 3'45" on the group, exhausted themselves on the first climb of Piano Maschera in the middle of the Aspromonte natural park.

The Polti VisitMalta forcing thinned the group and at 100 km from the finish, on the subsequent descent, 6 riders gained an advantage: Lorenzo Finn (Italian National Team), Lorenzo Quartucci (Solution Tech-Vini Fantini), Filippo Magli, Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan), Fernando Tercero (Polti VisitMalta) and Matteo Ambrosini (MBH Bank Ballan Csb).

These riders quickly gained 1'10" on the remaining group, seemingly the decisive attack, but the agreement fell through and the group came back. The only one to persist was Ambrosini, joined by Etienne Grimod (Biesse-Carrera-Premac), who remained alone on Monte Sant'Elia but had to surrender to the group's return about 45 km from the finish.

On the day's final climb, Finn tried again, followed by national teammate Alessandro Fancellu and Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan), but no one managed to make a real difference and at the top, 20 riders were still together. On the subsequent descent and flat section, the group further expanded, but this did not stop Lorenzo Finn (Italian National Team), Luca Colnaghi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan) and Davide Bais (Polti VisitMalta), who gained an advantage about 20 km from the finish and pushed through to the end.

Despite the forcing of Solution Tech-Vini Fantini, the three arrived at the last kilometer with over 30" advantage. It was a three-way sprint, and Colnaghi, recently in the news for the brutal attack he suffered during training, made the most of his sprint, beating the 2023 Giro stage winner on Gran Sasso and the current junior world champion. The group sprint, arriving 24" later, was won by Martin Marcellusi, with VF Group also placing Enrico Zanoncello and Filippo Fiorelli in the Top 10.

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FINAL STANDINGS

1. Luca Colnaghi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan)
2. Davide Bais (Polti VisitMalta)
3. Lorenzo Finn (Italian National Team)
4. Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan)
5. Nicolò Garibbo (Italian National Team)
6. Ben Granger (Mg.K Vis)
7. Enrico Zanoncello (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan)
8. Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan)
9. Javier Serrano (Polti VisitMalta)
10. Matthew Kingston (Mg.K Vis)

(Photo by Salvatore Dato / StrettoWeb)