Sonny Colbrelli (born 17 May 1990) is an Italian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2012 to 2022.
Career Born in Desenzano del Garda, Colbrelli has competed as a professional since the start of the 2012 season, joining as a neo-pro, from the amateur squad. Colbrelli had previously competed for the team in two stagiaire spells at the end of the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
Colbrelli made his Grand Tour début at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, where he was earmarked as a lead-out man for the team's sprinter, Sacha Modolo; Colbrelli took his first top ten placing on stage 13, when he finished ninth having led out Modolo to a fourth-place finish.
Bahrain–Merida (2017–2022) On 12 April 2017, Colbrelli won Brabantse Pijl, riding for . In June 2017, he was named in the startlist for the Tour de France.
2021 season After three top-ten finishes in one-day races during the opening quarter of the year, Colbrelli took stage victories at the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné, winning the points classification at both races. He then won the Italian National Road Race Championships for the first time, outsprinting Fausto Masnada, after both riders attacked on the final lap of a hilly course in and around Imola. He took three top-five stage finishes at the Tour de France, as he finished third in the points classification, behind Mark Cavendish and Michael Matthews. He next started at the Benelux Tour, where he won the sixth stage after a solo attack into Houffalize. Assuming the race leader's blue jersey for the final stage, which included three ascents of the Muur van Geraardsbergen, Colbrelli finished second on the stage behind teammate Matej Mohorič, but Mohorič did not gain enough time to take the overall victory.
The following weekend, Colbrelli formed part of an eight-man Italian team for the road race at the UEC European Road Championships, held in Trento. On the third of eight laps of a finishing circuit, Colbrelli joined compatriot Matteo Trentin as part of a ten-rider lead group; he, and France's Benoît Cosnefroy, later followed an attack by Belgium's Remco Evenepoel on the penultimate lap. Once Cosnefroy was dropped, Colbrelli tactically sat on Evenepoel's wheel and refused to relay with him; at the finish, Colbrelli led into the final corner and pulled clear of Evenepoel to win the gold medal. Ahead of the UCI Road World Championships, Colbrelli finished second to Michael Valgren at the Coppa Sabatini, and he won the Memorial Marco Pantani.
As one of the leaders for the Italian team at the World Championships, Colbrelli was unable to follow the attacks in the closing laps, and ultimately finished tenth in the road race. Colbrelli's next start came at Paris–Roubaix, which had been delayed from April to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, and was held in wet conditions that made some of the cobbled sectors muddy and slippery. Colbrelli attacked several times with around remaining, before forming a group with Mathieu van der Poel and Guillaume Boivin. This trio later caught Florian Vermeersch and Tom Van Asbroeck from the original breakaway, leaving just Gianni Moscon clear with remaining. Moscon suffered a mechanical and a crash in the next few kilometres, which ultimately led to him being caught on the Carrefour de l'Arbre cobbled sector by Colbrelli, van der Poel and Vermeersch. Once Moscon was dropped, the remaining trio contested the sprint at Roubaix Velodrome. As the finish approached the three mud-covered riders slowed to almost half speed and watched one another; Vermeersch was first to launch the sprint, however Colbrelli went round the outside of him in the closing metres to take the victory. Upon crossing the line he came to a stop, hoisted his bike in the air like a trophy, collapsed and wept as van der Poel, who finished 3rd, collapsed on the infield grass. As a result, Colbrelli became the first Italian rider to win the race since Andrea Tafi in 1999, and the third rider to win in his first start in the race.
2022 season Colbrelli began his season by finishing second in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. However, he was forced to withdraw from Paris–Nice after suffering from bronchitis, which also prevented him from competing in Milan–San Remo.
Cardiac arrest He made his return to racing at the Volta a Catalunya on 21 March 2022 (two days after Milan–San Remo), sprinting to second place on the opening stage. However, after the stage, he collapsed, fell unconscious, and required emergency medical treatment before being transferred to Josep Trueta Hospital in a conscious and stable condition for further assessments. It was later revealed that Colbrelli suffered a cardiac arrhythmia that led to cardiac arrest and had paused his training and competition to recover.
On 1 April 2022, Colbrelli received a subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (ICD) to reset his heart rhythm in case he suffers another cardiac arrest, thus making him unfit to participate in high intensity, competitive sports due to Italian Cardiological Guidelines for Competitive Sports Eligibility for athletes with heart disease (COCIS). As a result of his hiatus, Colbrelli was unable to defend his Paris-Roubaix title.
The incident drew comparisons to Christian Eriksen, a professional footballer who also suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed during physical activity.
In October 2022, Colbrelli announced his retirement from the sport due to heart problems.
Major results
2008 2nd Trofeo Città di Ivrea 3rd Trofeo Emilio Paganessi 2009 2nd Giro del Veneto 2010 1st Trofeo Alcide Degasperi 6th Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships 7th Circuito del Porto 2011 2nd Trofeo Zsšdi 2nd Trofeo Banca Popolare di Vicenza 3rd Trofeo Franco Balestra 3rd Gran Premio della Liberazione 10th Overall Coupe des nations Ville Saguenay 2012 1st Stage 1b (TTT) Giro di Padania 2nd Coppa Bernocchi 9th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 2013 2nd Volta Limburg Classic 2nd Tour of Almaty 5th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 7th Ronde van Drenthe 8th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 2014 (5 pro wins) 1st Overall Italian Cup 1st Giro dell'Appennino 1st Memorial Marco Pantani 1st Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 1st Coppa Sabatini 1st Stage 2 Tour of Slovenia 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano 2nd Volta Limburg Classic 2nd Tre Valli Varesine 3rd Roma Maxima 4th Trofeo Laigueglia 5th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore 5th Grand Prix Pino Cerami 6th Milan–San Remo 2015 (3) 1st Overall Italian Cup 1st Overall Tour du Limousin 1st Young rider classification 1st Stage 1 1st Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 3rd Gran Piemonte 5th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi 5th Coppa Ugo Agostoni 6th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 6th Coppa Sabatini 10th Coppa Bernocchi 2016 (7) 1st Overall Italian Cup 1st Gran Premio di Lugano 1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni 1st Coppa Sabatini 1st Tre Valli Varesine 1st Stage 5 Tour du Poitou-Charentes 2nd Overall Tour du Limousin 1st Stages 3 & 4 2nd Overall Giro di Toscana 2nd Trofeo Laigueglia 2nd Volta Limburg Classic 3rd Amstel Gold Race 4th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 5th Gran Piemonte 6th Brabantse Pijl 9th Milan–San Remo 2017 (3) 1st Brabantse Pijl 1st Coppa Bernocchi 1st Stage 2 Paris–Nice 2nd Coppa Sabatini 2nd Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 3rd Bretagne Classic 5th Memorial Marco Pantani 7th E3 Harelbeke 9th Amstel Gold Race 10th Tour of Flanders 10th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 2018 (4) 1st Gran Piemonte 1st Coppa Bernocchi 1st Stage 3 Tour de Suisse 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Hammer Sportzone Limburg 2nd Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal 2nd Brabantse Pijl 2nd Coppa Sabatini 3rd Overall Dubai Tour 1st Stage 4 3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 8th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 9th Milan–San Remo 2019 (3) 1st Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 1st Stage 4 Tour of Oman 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 2nd Overall Deutschland Tour 1st Points classification 1st Stage 4 2nd Coppa Sabatini 5th Memorial Marco Pantani 8th Trofeo Matteotti 9th EuroEyes Cyclassics 2020 (1) 1st Stage 2 Route d'Occitanie 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 4th Brabantse Pijl 6th Overall BinckBank Tour 7th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 2021 (8) 1st Road race, UEC European Road Championships 1st Road race, National Road Championships 1st Overall Benelux Tour 1st Stage 6 1st Overall Italian Cup 1st Paris–Roubaix 1st Memorial Marco Pantani Tour de Romandie 1st Points classification 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné 1st Points classification 1st Stage 3 2nd Coppa Sabatini 4th Gent–Wevelgem 6th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 8th Milan–San Remo 10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 2022 2nd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Grand Tour general classification results timeline Grand Tour 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Giro d'Italia 100 89 94 100 95 — — — — — Tour de France — — — — — 122 109 85 93 52 Vuelta a EspañaDid not contest during his career
Classics results timeline Monument 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Milan–San Remo — 126 189 139 43 638 — Tour of Flanders — — — — —10 23 30 47 55 — Paris–Roubaix — — — — — — — —NH1 — Liège–Bastogne–LiègeDid not contest during his career Giro di Lombardia DNF — — DNF DNF — — — — — — Classic 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad — — — — — 358 38 50 DNF2 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne —NH — — — 523 DNF76 75 E3 Harelbeke — — — — —7 49 13NH 57 — Gent–Wevelgem — — — — DNF 13 124 DNF DNF4 — Brabantse Pijl — — DNF DNF612 494 64 — Amstel Gold Race — — DNF 10739 74 72NH 72 — Hamburg Cyclassics — — — — — 85 679Not held — Bretagne Classic — — 72 — 433 20 — — — — Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec — — — — —10 115 37Not held — Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal — — — — — 192 DNF —
Major championships timeline Event 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 World Championships Road race 13 — DNF 59 — 11 — 10 European Championships Road raceDid not exist 29 — 14 — —1 National Championships Road race DNF DNF — 8 66231
+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish NH Not held
References
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