photo credits @ Trek-Segafredo
Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) succeeded in nixing Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) in a sprint finish, to claim today’s opening stage of the Tour of Croatia.
Meanwhile, Timothy Dupont (Verandas Willems) finished just behind the two leaders, to earn third sport on the podium.
“In the finale it was not possible for us to organise a lead-out with the tricky circuit, so I just tried to find my own way,” Nizzolo said after the finish.
“I knew that Cavendish was here with a good team for the sprint train, so I stayed around them. I just found a good position into the last corner and stayed cool to start [my sprint] at the right moment.”
Race Highlights
Today’s stage saw a breakaway group containing Alexey Kurbatov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Matej Drinovic (Adria Mobil), and the Cycling Academy’s Guillaume Boivin and Guy Sagiv, get underway early on, with the group later building up a massive lead of more than 10 minutes over the peloton.
However, with 40 kilometer remaining, Boivin decided to jettison his breakaway companions and set out on his own.
From there, the Cycling Academy rider managed to remain out front until the final 5 kilometers, where he was finally caught.
In the meantime, the peloton succeeded in reclaiming what was left of the escapees along the way, with Dimension Data and Trek-Segafredo driving the pace.
Heading into the final few hundred meters, surrounded by plenty of support from his team, Cavendish looked poised for victory.
But, a miscalculation saw the British rider unable to fully open up his sprint, allowing Nizzolo to come around him with a final surged during the closing meters – to seize the stage honors.
Tour of Croatia 2016 stage one result
Osijek to Varazdin, 230.4km 1. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 2. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 3. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Verandas Willems 4. Chris Opie (GBr) One Pro Cycling 5. Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff 6. Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Cyclingteam de Rijke 7. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 8. Pawel Franczak (Pol) Verva Activejet 9. Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) Synergy Baku 10. Jure Miskulin (Slo) Radenska Ljubljana all same time
General classification after stage one
1. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 2. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data at 4 secs 3. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Verandas Willems at 6 secs 4. Alexey Kurbatov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo at 9 secs 5. Chris Opie (GBr) One Pro Cycling at 10 secs 6. Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff at 10 secs 7. Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Cyclingteam de Rijke at 10 secs 8. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF at 10 secs 9. Pawel Franczak (Pol) Verva Activejet at 10 secs 10. Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) Synergy Baku at 10 secs
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