Tibor del Grosso scored his first victory for Alpecin-Deceuninck Development with a late kick to the line at the Gran Premio New York City on Sunday. Wilmar Paredes (Team Medellín) finished second in the select group of four riders, with Johannes Adamietz ahead of Lotto Dstny Development teammate Milan Donie for third, all with the same time 3:04:20.
The breakaway quartet moved away on the northern-most section of the 136.3km course after the two back-to-back climbs near Harriman State Park in picturesque Rockland County, New York. Leading the chase was VF Group-Bardani CSF-Faizanè.
The small group built a margin edging towards a full minute on the Route 9W return into New Jersey on the Palisades cliffs overlooking the Hudson River.
The course kicked up with 3.2km to go, but there wasn’t enough organisation in the chase group of five riders to close the gap. The final punch to the finish line in Fort Lee was led by the Lotto Dstny duo, with Paredes not able to match the acceleration to the line by Del Grosso, the reigning U23 men’s cyclocross world champion.
Gran Premio NYC, the only UCI 1.2 road race remaining on the US calendar this season, was held on the same course as the long-standing mass participation race GFNY World Championship NYC. Both events started at dawn on the iconic George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest bridge, and used a hilly course across New Jersey and New York.
The top Canadian in the field was Laurent Gervais, who finished eighth for Project Echelon Racing, while CS Velo’s Joshua Lebo and Will Cooper were the top US riders in 18th and 20th, respectively.
In the amateur event, former WorldTour pro Brent Bookwalter finished first in the men’s 40-44 division, his time 3:30:17.
