Clocking up his Vacansoleil-DCM team’s first victory of the new season, Italian sprinter Marco Marcato blasted home first at the end of today’s shortened fourth stage of the Étoile de Bessèges.
He beat former Belgian champion Niko Eeckhout (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Julien El Fares (Team Type 1 – Sanofi) and a reduced main bunch to the line. Yesterday’s stage winner Pierre Rolland (Europcar) also finished in the group and maintained his grip at the top of the general classification.
The victory was his second for the team since moving to the squad three years ago, and gives him a major boost in terms of motivation. “It is good to win the first 2012 race for the team,” he said afterwards. “Last Sunday I was close at La Marseillaise and now I take the win. This winter I worked hard on my sprint and it pays off. My shape is pretty good for the time of the year.”
The 27 year old is now third overall behind Rolland, eight seconds back. Franck Vermeulen (Veranda Rideau U) is one place and two seconds ahead of him, while Bobbie Traksel (Landbouwkrediet) is fourth.
As has been the case this week, the stage was plagued by bad weather. Freezing temperatures and gusting winds led to it being shortened from the scheduled 150 kilometres to just 66, with three laps of the finishing circuit at Bagnols-suer-Cèze settling things.
Lone attacker Bobbie Traksel (Landbouwkrediet) opened a considerable lead but Rolland’s team chased hard and caught him four kilometres from the line. Marcato’s squad guided their man into position and he did things perfectly, snagging a big win for himself and the team.
The Dutch setup had more to celebrate as Bert-Jan Lindeman held onto the lead in the mountains classification, despite being brought down in the strong winds.
Other riders were also troubled by the conditions, with a large number finishing outside the time limit and being eliminated. Former race leader Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) was one of these.
The 2.1-ranked race concludes tomorrow.