April 2/14 18:42 pm - VDK-Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde/3 Jours de la Panne: Stage 2

Posted by Editoress on 04/2/14
 

With his fifth win of the season Sacha Modolo got Team Lampre-Merida back to its winning ways at the stage race "Driedaagse de Panne-Koksijde". Perfectly piloted into the finish by Davide Cimolai and Max Richeze, Modolo managed to beat a number of well-known rivals in the sprint.

The month of March seemed to be jinxed for Team Lampre-Merida: After the team had already won six races in January and February, victory remained out of reach at Paris-Nice, Tirreno Adriatico and in Catalonia - Roberto Ferrari got the closest when he finished in second at the 2nd stage of the Volta a Catalunya. The wet edition of the classic Milano-San Remo was no success either despite a long escape from Matteo Bono, and at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali Manuele Mori's second place in the short first stage was the best result.

But Sacha Modolo got the riders in blue, fuchsia and Merida green back to their winning ways at the beginning of April. In the first stage of the "Driedaagse de Panne-Koksijde" Modolo had been surprised by an attack on one of the many steep climbs. Team Lampre-Merida was all the more attentive the next day, and this time they managed to get their three most important riders for a bunch sprint into the first group when the peloton broke to pieces on the Kemmelerberg.

Both Cimolai and then Richeze showed a textbook display of their skills. First Cimolai set a blistering pace on the final two kilometres, keeping his team mates in the first positions of the pack. Then Max Richeze made good use of his experience and handling skills to pilot Sacha Modolo into the best position to start the sprint. Modolo did not react to an early jump of Belgian Guillaume van Keirsbulck but wisely chose to wait for the 200 metres to go marker before he accelerated explosively and pulled away from his opponents by a full bike length on the finish line in Koksijde. For Modolo this was his fifth win of the season, while it was the seventh victory for Team Lampre-Merida and the first since the end of February.

Courtesy Team Lampre-Merida