Slovakian strongman outsprints a splintered peloton to take the lead in the island race
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) won the opening stage of the Giro di Sardegna (Tour of Sardinia) between Olbia and Porto Cervo, outsprinting the rest of a 25-strong group that had detached from the front of the peloton. The Slovak beat 2008 World champion Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing) into second place, with his Liquigas-Cannondale teammate Daniel Oss finishing third.
"We needed to work for a sprint finish and for [Jacopo] Guarnieri," said Sagan after the stage, "But the group broke up on the last climb due to the continuous attacks and the sprinters were left out of the running. As Team Liquigas-Cannondale we held the lead first with Nibali and Capecchi, and then with Oss and myself. I’d had a good look at the finish the first time round and knew the last bend at 150 meters out would be decisive. I wanted to hit it at the front and then step on the gas: that’s what happened and we got this fantastic win. "
The predominantly flat 138km stage was dominated by a two man breakaway, featuring Canadian national champion Will Routley (Team Spidertech p/b C10) and Arkimedes Arguelyes (Katusha). The two riders escaped after just 7km, building their advantage to a maximum of 7’40” after 57km before the peloton began to pull them back.
The chase was led by Lampre-ISD, BMC Racing, Farnese Vini-Neri and Acqua & Sapone; the break was allowed to stay away for as long as possible though, and Arguelyes was finally reeled in with 9km to go. Despite this, the pace of the peloton caused a number of groups to lose contact.
In the closing kilometres there were several attacks from single riders, including Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago-CSF Inox), and then Danilo Do Luca (Katusha). Neither rider was able to make his attack stick, but the aggressive pace on the technical run in to the finish had the effect of splitting what was left of the peloton into several pieces.
Sagan managed to get around the final corner first and was strong enough to hold off Ballan, who took his best result since his second place in stage 15 of last year’s Tour de France.
10 seconds bonus on the line gives Sagan the early lead in the race with four much hillier stages to come.
Result stage 1
1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas Cannondale
2. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing
3. Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini-Neri
5. Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-ISD
6. Angel Vicioso (Spa) Androni Giocattoli
7. Elia Favilli (Ita) Farnese Vini-Neri
8. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-ISD
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
Standings after stage 1
1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas Cannondale
2. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing @ 4s
3. Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale @ 6s
4. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini-Neri @ 10s
5. Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-ISD
6. Angel Vicioso (Spa) Androni Giocattoli
7. Elia Favilli (Ita) Farnese Vini-Neri
8. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-ISD
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale