News | Dubai Tour January 31, 2017

Modolo in the elite of the sprinters

Long breakaway for Bono

It was a battle of titans of the speed the one which took place in the opening stage of the Dubai Tour, the Nakheel Stage (Dubai International Marina Club-Palm Jumeirah di 181 km), and Sacha Modolo succeeded in being in the top five fastest rider of the bunch.

 

The Italian rider from Team UAE battled until the very few last meters, obtaining the 5th place behind the winner Kittel, the Dutch national champion Groenewegen (2nd), Cavendish (3rd) and Degenkolb (4th), preceding Viviani who had won twice in the past on the Palm Jumeirah arrival.

 

The work from Team UAE in support to Modolo was perfect in the final kilometers of the course: the Emirati lead-out train, whose members were Ferrari, Mohoric, Consonni and Modolo, came back to the front part of the bunch at 4 km to the arrival, then it was Mohoric‘s turn to bring the duo Consonni-Modolo in the very head places when there were 1000 meters to go.
Consonni (Under 23 Italian champion at his first race as pro rider) managed to escort Modolo on the wheel of Cavendish and Degenkolb and Modolo succeeded in following the acceleration of the British rider, however he could not overtake him. Meanwhile, Kittel performed an overwhelming sprint which gave him the victory.
Consonni too was in the top 10, crossing the finish line as 8th.

 

Team UAE had been in the front line in the media interest also before the start of the stage, thanks to the first appearance of Yousif Mirza in the UAE national champion jersey as member of a World Tour team.
The Emirati team succeeded in being protagonist during the whole stage by the presence of Matteo Bono in the main breakaway of the race: Bono went clear from the bunch together with Dillier, Pearson, Stewart and Boem few kilometers in the stage and they led the race until -10 km.

 

In the general classification, which doesn’t reflect the stage result because of the time bonuses) Modolo is 8th at 10″ from the leader Kittel.

 

Today was my first seasonal race and I feel I achieved a good result, especially considering the top quality of the opponents – Modolo commented – Being in the front row in the sprint, battling against the best sprinters of the world, was possible thanks to a good shape and thanks to the impressive support I received from my team mates.

The final part of the course made necessary to perform three sprints: the first one for exiting from the tunnel in a good position, the second one for approaching the 180° turn in the head of the peloton, the third one for trying to achieve the best possible result.
My team helped me to pass these three keys moments perfectly, great team spirit.

We only had to break just before the final sprint for avoiding a rider who was moving forward slowly: we faced the situation properly, however this prevented us to obtain maybe a better result.

With the feedbacks and the feelings from today stage, I’m confident for the next days to obtain a top result“.

 

STAGE RESULTS
1- Kittel 4h06’33”
2- Groenewegen s.t.
3- Cavendish s.t.
4- Degenkolb s.t.
5- Modolo s.t.
8- Consonni s.t.
23- Mirza s.t., 31- Polanc s.t., 39- Mohoric s.t., 88- Durasek s.t., 91- Ferrari 25″, 111- Bono 3’16”

 

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1- Kittel 4h26’03”
2- Boem 3″
3- Groenewegen 4″
4- Stewart s.t.
5- Cavendish 6″
8- Modolo 10″