Fernando Gaviria opened up his European account in emphatic style with a sprint victory on stage 1 of the Volta ao Algarve.
Quick-Step Floors was outmuscled for much of the final kilometres, with Cofidis, Lotto-Soudal and Trek-Segafredo all putting men up front. A late dig by lead-out man Max Richeze strung out the peloton and opened things up for Gaviria, who had been sitting on the wheel of Andre Greipel.
Gaviria struck out first and stormed past those in front of him. Greipel tried to follow the Colombian but found himself boxed in on a number of occasions. The German almost came around him in the final metres but he sat up when a minor deviation from Gaviria forced him to change his line. Greipel, unhappy with the action, remonstrated with Gaviria immediately after the stage but later congratulated him on Twitter on his turn of pace.
ADVERTISEMENT
The win is Gaviria’s third this season, after he claimed two stages in Argentina at the Vuelta a San Juan. However, this one was all the sweeter because this time there were even more of the top sprinters on show.
"I am very happy, because I just came back from Colombia, where I worked really well, and this win shows this,” Gaviria said. “It was a sprint royale, with some of the world's fastest riders fighting for victory, and to beat them is really nice, especially as the wind was pretty strong out there. A big thanks to the team, because they were perfect and did a superb job today.”
The victory had the added bonus of earning Gaviria a ticket home for the national championships later this month. The 22-year-old has his eyes set on wearing the national jersey for the remainder of the season.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2ku2wlf
No comments:
Post a Comment