Claire Steels continued her run of strong performances this season to ride to a season-best result at a one-day race.
The 2023 Trofeo Alfredo Binda – Comune di Cittiglio saw the peloton tackle 139 kilometers from Maccagno con Pino e to Cittiglio and featured nine gruelling climbs.
Steels, who joined IPTR in 2023, said: “The race felt long today, but I felt strong and comfortable during the whole race. Although I felt quite tired in the last 15 kilometers, I managed to to arrive with the peloton and place ninth in the sprint, so I’m delighted with a top 10!”
When asked about the most difficult section of the day, the Brit said emphatically “the last climb“. Steels was joined at the start line by Olympic Champion Anna Kiesenhofer, Elena Pirrone, Tamara Dronova, Silvia Magri and Thi Thāt Nguyen.
The victory went to the Shirin Van Anrooij who set a record time of 03:39.32, followed by Trek Sefafredo teammate Elisa Balsamo who won the sprint for second place from the reduced group featuring Steels.
Steels’ result in Italy is on the back of a solid start to the season in Australia, where she climbed to eighth place on the queen stage at the Santos Tour Down Under and narrowly missed the top-ten at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
