Although the route included five climbs of Box Hill, the finish of the eighth Prudential RideLondon Surrey Classic was always going to come down to a sprint and Italy’s Elia Viviani was able to get his bike across first on Sunday.
It was his 25th World Tour victory and 75th overall, but only his fifth victory in a World Tour one-day race. “We knew it was a chaotic finish but we knew also we can move smart and use the legs. It was amazing [Deceunick-Quick Step] teamwork because Michael [Morkov] was third so thanks to the team for sure.”
The early breakaways were caught by the peloton with 14 km to go and the mass proceeded to the finish. Viviani and Morkov were careful to stay near the front and a crash that took out several rides from the chasing group with 2 km left did not impact them.
Viviani had the legs to beat Ireland’s Sam Bennett to the finish, with Morkov third. For Viviani, this was a race he wanted to win badly and moved up from second last year. Summaries:
UCI World Tour/RideLondon Surrey Classic
London (GBR) ~ 4 August 2019
(Full results here)
Final Standings (169.0 km) 1. Elia Viviani (ITA), 3:46:15; 2. Sam Bennett (IRL), 3:46:15; 3. Michael Morkov (DEN), 3:46:15; 4. Jasper Stuyven (BEL), 3:46:15; 5. Amund Jansen (NOR), 3:46:15; 6. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 3:46:15; 7. Alexander Kristoff (NOR), 3:46:15; 8. Oliver Naesen (BEL), 3:46:15; 9. Jasper de Buyst (BEL), 3:46:15; 10. Ethan Hayter (GBR), 3:46:15.
