Killian O'Brien, the Irish junior riding for Czechia's Veleka Team, has taken his first win in Italy, after a really impressive performance, but was left to rue what might have been.
A costly error meant O'Brien did not also come away with the general classification victory, which he should have claimed given he took victory by well over a minute on stage 1 before making the breakaway on the second day.
However, after really hitting his stride he has told stickybottle he was hopeful of national team selection for the Europeans or World Championships later in the season.
The 18-year-old, who is affiliated to Orwell Wheelers at home, claimed victory in Trofeo Dell'Aglianico Del Vulture in Banzi southern Italy.
The race, run over six laps of a circuit with a 1km climb, over 110.5km, ended in torrential rain, with O'Brien having already attacked the breakaway and ridden solo to victory.
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The Irish rider went up the road on the second lap in a group of five riders - getting across solo to the other four. However, when the cooperation in that group ebbed away, O'Brien and one of the others got clear and rode in a two-man move for the next 55-60km.
They managed to build a two-minute lead on the peloton before a group of three got across, making for five up and still with about two minutes on the bunch. However, while they combined well for about half a lap, that cooperation slipped, so O'Brien pressed the pace on the climb.
One of the riders he was with, Federico Dell'Elce (Gulp Pool Val Vibrata), the attacked over the top of the climb, with O'Brien going with him and the duo pulling clear, sharing the work load for about 5km.
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When they reached a crosswind section with about 10km to go, the Irish riders put his fellow escapee in the gutter and rode away from him. He gained an advantage of about 1:30 by the finish where he took victory from Dell'Elce, who hung on solo for 2nd, with the bunch a further 30 seconds back.
However, while his winning gap should have secured the overall victory, the two-stage race was run on points, rather than time, this year.
And though O'Brien got into the winning breakaway the following day, and took 4th place, he did not realise the climbers' classification points counted towards the general classification.
His cause on that final stage on Sunday was not helped by the fact a gear malfunction meant he was stuck in the big ring for much of the stage, run over a circuit including a 3km climb. Instead, of adding overall victory to his stage 1 win, he had to settle for 2nd overall.
"I was disappointed not to win the general classification, but winning my first race in Italy was great, especially with a big junior field of over 100 guys and on a challenging circuit," he told stickybottle.
"To prove myself there was really, really cool. And hopefully I will be able to do it again in the coming weeks, I'm here for the rest of the summer. Hopefully if I get a few more results I could be selected for the Worlds or Europeans.
"But for now I'm looking to the next few races, hoping to get some more results, and hopefully everything could come together for the end of the season and for next season."
