Rebellin extends lead, Modolo notches first win of year in Turkey
Race leader Davide Rebellin sneaks into a move at the end of stage 5 to extend his lead as Sacha Modolo sprints to first win of the year
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ISTANBUL (AFP) — Italian Sacha Modolo broke a six-month drought with his first win of the season in stage 5 of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey on Thursday in Pamukkale.
The Lampre-Merida rider, beat home Spain’s Carlos Cuesta Barbero (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Australian Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo), who were second and third, respectively, as well as seven other riders who got away from the main pack at the end of the 160km stage, which finished at a World Heritage Site known for dramatic cliffside bathing springs.
Among those 10 breakaway riders was 43-year-old Italian Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi-Polkowice), who snuck into the winning move to extend his overall race lead.
Rebellin, who in 2004 was the first rider to sweep the Ardennes classics treble then was later banned for two years after a doping positive at the 2008 Olympics, extended his lead over Lampre’s Croatian rider Kristijan Durasek from seven seconds to 22 seconds in the overall.
Wednesday’s stage winner, the German sprint ace André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), did not start the stage, saying he would now go and prepare for the Giro d’Italia which starts on May 9 in Sanremo.
On Friday, the race will offer a summit finish at the end of a 184-kilometer stage from Denizli to Selçuk.