Racing for one last time with continental squad Mitchelton-BikeExchange in the under 23 version of next weekend's Monument, the Giro di Lombardia, the 20-year-old attacked from the reduced bunch to grasp the victory.
“It’s awesome to have been able to get the victory today," the Australian said. "There’s no better way to finish my last race with Mitchelton-BikeExchange and no better way of saying thank you to everyone involved with the team for everything they have done for me over the last couple of years.”
Stannard provided the perfect analysis of the 175km one-day race.
“The early attacks weren’t really any threat today and the pace didn’t increase significantly until we hit the Ghisallo and then it was full gas. We raced the climb hard and a large group formed that stayed together until the Colle Brianza – which is really steep and caused more splits.
“There were nine of us going into the final and I was saving myself for the sprint, so I followed all the moves over the last 20 kilometres and shut them down because I felt confident in my own sprint and I wanted to make sure the group stayed together.
“I attacked over the last few hundred metres and no-one managed to come around me and I think tactically we played it perfectly today.”
