Appollonio tops bunch sprint in Roost

Italian Davide Appollonio (Sky) took out his first victory as a professional, winning the bunch sprint on the third stage of the Tour de Luxembourg over points leader Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha).

Just two days after his 22nd birthday, Appollonio prevailed over Galimzyanov by a tire width in the 186km stage from Eschweiler to Roost. FDJ's Mickaël Delage took third.

"I’m so happy to get my first victory this year for the team. I’ve had a few seconds and thirds so I was really hoping for a win and today it happened," said Appollonio to the team's website..

The result confirmed the promise shown by the rider from Isernia when he took second to Mark Cavendish in the Giro d'Italia stage 12 sprint last month.

"After the Giro I had a little bit of a rest afterwards but I kept my condition and then the team called me into the Luxembourg squad - I’m pleased to reward their faith in me and tomorrow we'll do everything we can to try and get the victory again."

There were no changes to the top of the classifications, as Leopard Trek's Linus Gerdemann remained the overall leader, Galimzyanov the points classification leader and Luxembourg's Christian Poos (CCI Differdange) did just enough to maintain his lead in the king of the mountains competition.

The stage saw seven classified climbs, but Poos was able to sprint to fourth place over five of the passes behind the day's breakaway. Johannes Fröhlinger (Skil-Shimano), part of a three-man move with Mathias Brandle (Geox-TMC) and Anthony Geslin (FDJ), accumulated 32 points and now trails Poos by 8.

The three-man breakaway was caught as a thunderstorm pounded the peloton on the approach to the finishing three circuits, but luckily the skies cleared before the final bunch gallop.

Appollonio started his sprint early, and Galimzyanov was unable to come around the young Italian.

"Today I was in good shape, and in the group I think there were no better sprinters than me," said Galimzyanov. "Unfortunately I made a mistake: I started my sprint too late, Appollonio sprinted with 300 metres to go, instead I waited until 150 metres to go and I wasn't able to pass him. It's a pity because the team worked very well as usual, especially in the last 10 kilometers."

Appollonio's win was overshadowed somewhat by a crash right after the line. Team Sky directeur sportif Marcus Ljungqvist explained, "Just after the finish line it was pretty tight and there was virtually nowhere for Davide to go; he hit the barriers but he’s alright and it wasn't anything too serious."

Ljungqvist also explained why Kiwi sprinter Greg Henderson pulled out 30km into the stage. "Greg had a bad night, his stomach wasn't good and it was pretty early when he started to suffer so we pulled him out with an eye on the upcoming races.

"I’m sure that was the right decision hopefully he should be back on track in a couple of days and on course for the Tour de Suisse. Another hard day today wouldn't have been a good idea."

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