Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) edged out Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) and Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) to win the 34th edition of the Clasica de Almeria on Sunday. The German national champion timed his sprint perfectly, coming off Mezgec's wheel with just over 125m to the line and powering clear of the opposition. Kittel came from further back but gave himself too much to do. In the end, the Katusha rider narrowly missed out on the win, with Ackermann taking his first win of the 2019 season. Mitchelton-Scott had done the majority of the pace setting throughout the day and many predicted that Mezgec would lead out European Champion Matteo Trentin. However, it was the Italian who hit the front with just over 200m to go with Mezgec tucked in on his wheel. However, the Mitchelton pair had no answer when Ackermann opened his sprint. The 25-year-old German has already picked up from where he left off in 2018.ADVERTISEMENT Ackermann and his teammates were patient in the finale, watching on as Mitchelton controlled the field. The German team moved up inside 1.8km to as the race tackled the final circuit, while Kittel sat deeper in the field before his lead-out train brought him up with just under 1,000m to the line. "It was a really hard race," Ackermann said in a post-race flash interview. "Actually 100km before the finish there was a split in the peloton. Mitchelton did it and then we came to the finish line and the sprint was a hard one. Asked if he was surprised that Trentin didn't sprint, Ackermann said, "No, I saw it in the race that Trentin was going to the front and the other one was in the pack and I knew that Mezgec was going for the sprint. How it unfolded
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