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“The boys were
perfect," said Modolo. "At the beginning, there weren’t too many attacks. The breakaway
was small with only four riders. Joe Dombrowski kept the escape in check.
He did a huge job, like on the first stage, to bring them back. “We took control in the last kilometer until the last corner at 400
meters. It was downhill, and other teams tried to anticipate that corner
by swinging on the right. I managed to get into third wheel, which was
perfect. The first day, having lost the race in the way that I did, I did
not sleep at all in the night because of the pain I felt for the team.
I’m so happy to give them the win today.
“They chased all day
long and beautifully executed a lead-out,” said team boss Jonathan
Vaughters. “Sacha probably had a bit of mala hostia in him from the other
day, and he refused to let the win escape him.”
“The train is
perfect,” Modolo said. “We barely have to say anything to each other.
Everyone already knows what to do. It was too bad not to have Tom [Van
Asbroeck] today after his crash yesterday. Otherwise it would have been
even better. I am proud to be treated so well in this team.”
For the team's British sport director Charly Wegelius, the presence of a sprinter presents a new challenge —
one the team has proven ready to embrace: “It’s going good. It’s a new
thing for us, this sprint setup. It’s a different way of approaching the
races, a different way of managing the riders in the final. It’s a different
thing for some of the riders here, too. Two times [here] it’s been a good
process. It’s nice to get one on the board. And it’s a nice confidence
builder for Sacha moving forward.”
Ruta del Sol continues
on Saturday with the race’s second uphill battle. Stage four concludes
with a 1.7km ascent at Alcala de los Gazules.
KEV MONKS FOR DIGITAL SPORTS GROUP
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