Sacha Modolo won the opening stage of the 2014 Trofeo Palma de Mallorca today – successfully holding off challenges from Dylan Groenewegen and Jens Debusschere.
Initially, Groenewegen thought that he had won the stage, as the Dutch rider lifted his arms in victory as he crossed the finish line. However, after a photo finish inspection by race commissaries, they awarded Modolo the win.
“Three or four riders came up to me really close to the line because I was fading, 30 or 40 metres from the line, and it ended up being a photo-finish. Somebody else put their hands up but it was me who won!" said Modolo.
This year’s event allows teams to swap riders in and out on a day-to-day basis. Such was the case with Bradley Wiggins and Chris Horner, as both riders appeared for their team’s presentations, before setting out on a training ride.
In the opening laps of today’s 12 kilometer circuit – a five man breakaway group containing Alex Howes, Ian Boswell, Alexandre Pichot, Amets Txurruka and Ronan Van Zandbeek managed to slip away and enjoy a slight lead over the peloton.
Behind the breakaway, Lampre appeared to be controlling the field at the front – albeit in a relaxed fashion.
Orica GreenEdge and Team Sky soon joined the Italian team at the front, and with 20 kilometers remaining, their combined efforts successfully reeled in the escapees.
As the race started to culminate into a tense sprint finale, an ambitious Modolo commenced a daring surged in the closing 300 meters – just nixing Groenewegen on the line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNIHw-hpncI
Top 25 Finishers
1 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 2:29:12 2 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke 4 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma – Quick Step 5 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis 6 Jon Aberasturi (Spa) Team Euskadi 7 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 8 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 9 Davide Vigano (Ita) Caja Rural – Seguros 10 Yoeri Havik (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke 11 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN – Qhubeka 12 Morgan Lamoisson (Fra) Team Europcar 13 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Iam Cycling 14 Konrad Dabkowski (Pol) Activejet Team 15 Arakdiusz Owsian (Pol) Activejet Team 16 Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka 17 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 18 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin Sharp 19 David Millar (GBr) Garmin Sharp 20 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar 21 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 22 Joachim Tolles (Ger) Team Kuota 23 Ralf Matzka (Ger) Team Netapp – Endura 24 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Iam Cycling 25 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
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