Italian sprinter motivated to fight on
Having held the lead through today’s second stage, day one winner Matteo Pelucchi was finally deposed in the afternoon time trial when he could only finish 75th, 40 seconds behind the winner Luke Durbridge.
The Italian rider regretted having to concede his place at the top of the general classification, but is nevertheless proud of his race thus far and has set a new goal for the two remaining stages.
“I am proud to have helped write this page in the history of IAM Cycling by winning its first road stage. But it was also a first for me because I had never lead a stage race before,” he stated, saying that he will remember those ‘magic moments’ for a long time to come.
“I lost the lead because I am not an expert at time trialling, but I still have the green points jersey to defend. That will certainly prove to be powerful motivation for these next days.”
According to directeur sportif Kjell Carlström, Pelucchi can aim for victory in Friday’s concluding stage. In addition to that, he believes that Stefan Denifl and Thomas Löfkivst are both in with a chance as regards the general classification, with the duo being 26 and 29 seconds back respectively.