Sean Quinn sprints to maiden pro victory at Coppi e Bartali
'It's quite a relief to get this first win to be honest,' says second-year pro on EF Education-EasyPost.
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Sean Quinn kicked to his maiden pro victory Wednesday out of a four-rider breakaway in stage 2 at Coppi e Bartali in Italy.
The second-year WorldTour pro from California used his quick finishing speed to snag the victory after EF Education-EasyPost slotted two riders into the winning breakaway in the 172.5km stage from Riccione to Longiano.
“It’s quite a relief to get this first win to be honest,” Quinn said. “I’ve missed out on a few opportunities in the past, so it feels great to finally get that win.”
EF placed Quinn and James Shaw into the winning four-rider move at the sharp end of a four-lap finishing circuit that featured two hard climbs to fracture the bunch.
“The whole team rode super well,” Quinn said. “We had seven guys in the last 50 kilometers. And then Mark and Georg set us up in a really good position. With about 20km left, James Shaw and I followed a move and all of a sudden, we realized we had a huge gap and the guys in the group behind kept saying on the radio ‘no one’s chasing. It’s looking good. Keep going, guys.’”
“Winning is nothing without the people around you. I just want to say a huge thank you to the team, the staff, my teammates and everyone who has supported me throughout the low points over the last couple of years.” -Sean Quinn
Today’s team win: https://t.co/E0BISMEMFv pic.twitter.com/UohznyTysG
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) March 22, 2023
Both the race lead and the overall leader’s jersey were up for grabs on the demanding and technical finishing circuit.
Mauro Schmid (Soudal Quick-Step) and Walter Calzoni (Q36.5) attacked on the final climb, and Quinn and Shaw managed to bridge across just in time for Quinn to turn on the turbos for the line. Schmid finished second to Quinn to snatch the leader’s jersey, with Quinn now second at two seconds back.
Quinn was elated with his first professional win after joining the WorldTour with EF Education-EasyPost in 2022.
“Winning is nothing without the people around you,” said Sean after the finish. “I just want to say a huge thank you to the team, the staff, my teammates and everyone who has supported me throughout the low points over the last couple of years.”
The victory underscores a solid start to 2023 for EF EF Education-EasyPost, with 11 wins on the season already.