Modolo continues winning streak

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Sacha Modolo (Colnago-CSF Inox) took the first ever stage of the Giro di Padania with a sprint victory over Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) on a day when concerns over the race’s political overtones threatened to overshadow the racing.

The two young Italian sprinters have been in sparkling form of late, with Modolo dominating the late-summer calendar in Italy, and Viviani showing his mettle with impressive displays on the other side of the Atlantic. In a highly-anticipated duel, Modolo just edged out Viviani and his teammate Manuel Belletti to take the win in Laigueglia, the Ligurian town famed for its traditional early-season race.

“I’m very happy with this latest success, which crowned some exceptional team work,” Modolo said at the finish. “Everything worked to perfection and I’m very satisfied to wear the first leader’s jersey of the Giro di Padania.”

Modolo now has his eyes on a jersey of a different colour, as he plans to be part of Paolo Bettini’s squad for the world championships in Copenhagen. “If Bettini calls me up to wear the blue jersey, it would only be a pleasure.”

While Colnago-CSF Inox piloted Modolo to perfection on the run-in to the line, it was Viviani’s Liquigas squad who did the bulk of the pace-setting early in the stage, when the trio of breakaways Federico Rocchetti (De Rosa Flaminia), Simone Campagnaro (D'Angelo & Antenucci) and Pawel Bernas (Poland) threatened to ride off with the spoils.

“My team had to take full responsibility to close them down,” Viviani said. “Unfortunately in the final kilometres I had to sacrifice Sabatini and Oss, the two men who would have led me out.”

The stage was marked by demonstrations from the Rifondazione Comunista and the trade union movement CGIL, which had called a nationwide general strike for Tuesday in protest at recent government austerity measures. Demonstrators attempted to block the route at Mondovì, and while the three escapees came through unimpeded, the peloton was temporarily halted.

The demonstrators were also protesting the Lega Nord political party’s heavy involvement in the organisation of the race: the term “Padania” itself is a highly-charged one in Italian political discourse, which the Lega Nord uses to describe the northern part of the country, for which it is seeking autonomy.

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