First European race for LAMPRE-MERIDA, who took part in Mallorca in Trofeo Palma.
At the start of the first race of Challenge Mallorca, there were many sprinters and, of course, Petacchi, who obtained the 4th place in the final sprint, at the end of the 116 km completely flat course (10 laps for 11,6 km each).
In the team directed by Maurizio Piovani, there were also Cunego (debut in 2013), Bono, Cimolai, Malori, Niemiec, Palini, Pozzato, Viganò and Wackermann
The winner was Dehaes (Lotto Belisol), who preceded Farrar and Swift, while Petacchi crossed the finish line before Ventoso, Rojas and Petit.
In photo (Bettini), the sprint.
“I could not follow Viganò, so my sprint was not so good. I tried to recover, but it was very difficult”, Petacchi explained.
This is the evaluation by sport director Piovani: “I’m not satisfied for the organization of the team in the approach of the sprint. Anyway, it’s important to consider that we’re in the early races and that the course was very short, so the legs of many riders were not warm enough. Tomorrow Cattaneo and Ulissi will take the place of Bono and Cimolai”.
Cunego’s comment about his debut:”Everything is all right, despite the wind. I appreciate to feel again the atmosphere of the bunch. I gave my contribution to the team and I’ll be happy to do the same tomorrow”.
RACE RESULTS
1st Dehaes 2h39’07″
2nd Farrar s.t.
3rd Swift s.t.
4th Petacchi s.t.
5th Ventoso s.t.
86th Viganò 17″, 92nd Palini 46″, 98th Wackermann 49″, 99th Pozzato s.t., 108th Cunego s.t., 120th Cimolai 1’03″, 40th Niemiec 1’29″, 167th Malori 2’30″, 168th Bono s.t.
