Sagan secures Sardegna success

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Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) secured overall victory at the Giro di Sardegna thanks to taking fourth place on the dirt road finish at the end of the fifth stage to Gesturu.

Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) won the stage with a solo attack. Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) finished second and third but Sagan kept them in check and won overall by three seconds.

The young Slovakian won three of the five stages during the race, confirming he is on form and ready for next week’s Paris-Nice, where he won two stages last year.

“When they went off in the finale, I kept my cool. I was sure I could keep the gap under control. I could feel the tiredness of the previous stages in my legs and increasing the pace would have been risky,” Sagan said in a statement from his team.

“Once again the team was fantastic: Nibali and Capecchi took me up to the finish, and prevented Serpa from gaining those few seconds he needed to pass me.”

“Yesterday’s victory turned out to be fundamental. Securing this win was hard work, also because there was never a quiet day. In addition to bringing me great joy, the Giro di Sardegna has proved to be excellent training in view of my main goal of the season: producing an immense performance at the Paris-Nice. I feel like I’m in good form and I hope these successes are just the beginning.”

Scarponi’s first win for Lampre

Scarponi’s victory was his first in the bright pink Lampre jersey and showed he is on form before Tirreno-Adriatico, where he finished a close second to Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) last year.

Lampre made sure an early break was caught 15km from the finish and the net up Scarponi and Cunego.

Scarponi surged away with two kilometres to go, with only Jose Serpa ale to stay with him. However Scarponi kicked again won alone on the dirt finish.

“I didn’t think I’d win this early in the season but I’m obviously happy. I’ve got to thank all the team, they were vital for this win,” Scarponi said.

“The idea was to go hard on the climb to try and crack Sagan and so help Cunego and overall victory. I won and it’s a pity that Sagan managed to defend his lead because Damiano deserved to win with the form he has.”