Giulio Pellizzari attacked solo twelve kilometers from the finish, believed in it until the end, but the victory in the Peccioli City Grand Prix Sabatini Cup goes to Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates – XRG). After 197 kilometers of racing and a very thrilling finale, the peloton caught up with Pellizzari in the final meters and the Frenchman was skillful in launching the sprint that allowed him to prevail ahead of his countrymen Clément Venturini (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama - FDJ United). In fourth position finishedChristian Scaroni (XDS Astana Team) with Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) and the talented rider from the Marche region who after yesterday's victory in the Giro di Toscana today finished sixth.

RACE REPORT The first part of the race offered little to report: a few attacks and nothing more. Then the breakaways began and the peloton, which had started with 165 riders, found itself fragmented and divided into several groups. In the first hour, with the various groups of the peloton engaged in "chasing" each other, 44 kilometers were covered.

Shortly after the first two groups rejoined, and in a counterattack, the 28-year-old Frenchman Valentin Ferron (Cofidis) and his peer Samuele Zoccarato (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) attacked. Pedaling in agreement, the Frenchman and the Venetian gained a good advantage over the peloton, managing to pass through the finish line area, when seven laps remained, with 1'00" on the peloton led by XDS Astana and EF Education First.

The gap increased but never exceeded 1'30". Ferron and Zoccarato remained in the breakaway for over fifty kilometers then, under the pressure of XDS Astana, the peloton came back together when 87 kilometers remained to the finish.

After several kilometers of steady pace, there were several attacks in the group from which an escape emerged featuring first Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Andrea Mifsud (Team Polti VisitMalta) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) and then, solo, the Maltese champion from Basso and Contador's team.

Andrea Mifsud's action ended when the main group accelerated and "swallowed" him. Subsequently, Løland (Uno-X Mobility) attacked followed by Samuele Battistella (EF Education - EasyPost), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Filippo Magli (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) and Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA).

When about forty kilometers remained to the finish, the race was led by Battistella, Vlasov and Molenaar; behind them the peloton led by Cofidis caught up with Løland and Magli. A moment later, an unfortunate crash in a curve took the Russian from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe out of contention and so only two remained up front, but the cards on the table changed with Pellizzari's acceleration.

Breaking away from the group, the rider from the Marche region caught up with Battistella and Molenaar and pedaled for a dozen kilometers. Then, just before the bell rang, with a new attack began his solo adventure that continued with determination until the final kilometer. And then, with less brilliant pedaling, but without surrendering until Cosnefroy and the rest of the chasers arrived.

The Frenchman thus updates his seasonal victory count to five and gives the seventy-second win of 2026 to UAE Team Emirates, which had also won the Peccioli City GP last year thanks to Isaac del Toro.

UPDATES TO FOLLOW

FINISHING ORDER

1 Cosnefroy Benoît UAE Team Emirates - XRG 04:40:55

2 Venturini Clément Unibet Rose Rockets ,,

3 Grégoire Romain Groupama - FDJ United ,,

4 Scaroni Christian XDS Astana Team ,,

5 Aranburu Alex Cofidis ,,

6 Pellizzari Giulio Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe ,,

7 Delettre Alexandre TotalEnergies ,,

8 Crescioli Ludovico Team Polti VisitMalta ,,

9 Hoelgaard Markus Uno-X Mobility ,,

10 Nerurkar Lukas EF Education - EasyPost ,,