The sixth bunch sprint finish of the Tour of Hainan saw a fourth different winner on Sunday as 21 year old Italian neo-pro Jakub Mareczko of Southeast claimed his first professional victory. Mareczko followed on from Andrea Palini, Sacha Modolo and Benjamin Giraud, who had taken the previous sprints on Chinese island. Modolo retained the overall lead with an advantage of nine seconds over Palini.
“I really wanted this first win after I failed in the first two stages due to crashing”, Mareczko said. “I came third on stage three but I was still missing the top spot. I’m happy. Since day one, my team believed in me and they kept believing in me until I achieved it. This victory means a lot to me. I’ve had some time at home to gear up for the Chinese races. After Hainan, I’ll do Taihu as well. I’m improving. At the beginning of the season, at Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, I was close to winning for the first time in HC race [he has been twice second and third]. Now I’ve made it but I don’t want to stop here. I’m hoping for more before I return to Europe.”
Mareczko’s four previous victories were acquired at category 2 level at the Vuelta Tachira and Vuelta Venezuela. The the Tour of Hainan is 2.HC level, with several WorldTour teams also in action.
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In the sprint finish in Sanya, Mareczko was led out by Southeast teammate Andrea Dal Col. He was smart enough to wait till the last minute after Drapac led the field in the run in to the final sprint with a curve 700 metres before the line. Modolo looked to have taken a good advantage of the Australian again before his young compatriot passed him. Palini completed the fully Italian podium.
“There’s not much to explain”, Modolo commented. “I sprinted like the other times, starting 200 metres before the line, but I didn’t know there would be a head wind to finish with. I was surprised. I feel sorry for my team after the amount of work they’ve done.”
Mareczko added that he was also unaware of the head wind.
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