Diego Pablo Sevilla leads the mountains and Luca Pacioni takes third place in the sprint
III Adriatica Ionica Race
Stage 1: Trieste – Aviano (185,3 km)
The EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team resumed the competition this Tuesday in the routes proposed by the Adriatica Ionica Race for a first day in which Diego Pablo Sevilla was an active part of the great breakaway of the day, with the prize of the podium as first leader of the mountain, and at the end of which Luca Pacioni signed an outstanding third position, his better position of the season, in the volata in which Elia Viviani won.
Another day of commitment and dedication from the riders of the Foundation’s ProTeam structure. The Spaniard Diego Pablo Sevilla managed to catch the breakaway, initially five riders, four after the mountain pass of San Michele del Carso. There Sevilla secured the first GPM leader’s jersey with an acceleration in the final part. After that, there was a regrouping, albeit of four riders: Sevilla, Rastelli (96), Donegà (105) and Cattelan (156). A movement that reached an advantage of five minutes and that ended up being swallowed up by the peloton in the last five kilometres.
The breakaway, in an unusual circumstance in modern cycling, went off the official route due to a signalling error when it was halfway through the course, which forced the race to stop for about eight minutes. Once the incident was resolved, the race was resumed as normal. For Sevilla, this is a new anecdote to add to that of their previous breakaway, a few weeks ago in the Tour of Hungary, when they had to stop at a level crossing (more common in cycling), a circumstance that then made it much easier for the peloton to bring down the breakaway.
The peloton, with several formations interested in the sprint, increased its pace in the last twenty kilometres and close the breakaway with five kilometres to go. Until then, the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team riders rode closely together, providing maximum protection for Luca Pacioni. The Italian Elia Viviani, riding here with the Italian national team, won the final sprint, while Luca Pacioni finished in an outstanding third position.
Diego Pablo Sevilla: “That’s the kind of rider I am: I like to attack, I like to break away, I like to try to go strong on the climbs. I think that today’s stage fully reflects my way of being. I’m happy to have taken this green jersey even if I know that it will be very difficult to keep it tomorrow with the arrival on Monte Grappa. But it’s a great result: for me, for the team and for the sponsor. This is the fourth year for me in this group, with the unique possibility to live in contact with two legends like Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador, the advices they give me are always precious”.
Luca Pacioni: “This is a third place that pays me back from very difficult months: I arrive from a very unlucky period, I could not race much, and being here is very important for me. We knew that today’s sprint would be decided at 300 meters from the arrival, where there was a traffic circle with a curve: I managed to stay ahead and get to the sprint with the first ones. I have to thank the team, who helped and supported me in these months. And it was nice to get this result today, here, since I live in this area”.
On Wednesday, the queen stage arrives, finishing at the summit of Monte Grappa. A day to clarify a general classification in which, for the moment, Elia Viviani wears the leader’s jersey and in which Luca Pacioni, who will wear the red jersey of the points classification for that reason, holds the provisional third place. A day for climbers and for big differences.
[ PhotoGomezSport]
