Coppi e Bartali: Eenkhoorn wins breakaway sprint in Gatteo

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Pascal Eenkhoorn (LottoNL-Jumbo) won the opening morning stage at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali race in Italy, beating the USA's Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Drapac) after the duo formed the breakaway of the day during the 98.7km road race stage.

Italy's Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli) beat Chris Lawless (Team Sky) to win the bunch sprint for third place but the peloton finished 1:07 behind, putting Eenkhoorn and Craddock in a strong position in the general classification of the four-day race.

It was Eenkhoorn's first professional victory after joining LottoNL-Jumbo for the 2018 season.

The decisive break formed after 12km, with Emil Dima (MS Tina - Focus) also in the move. The trio opened a lead of 3:30 after 60km, with Dima distanced on the second climb to Longiano that was covered three times during the stage.

Eenkhoorn and Craddock were far stronger and led by 2:45 in Longiano with just 17km to go. They went on to hold off the chasers and fight for the stage victory.

"I worked hard on my sprint last winter, so I knew I was fast," Eenkhoorn said. "I made a fake move a few hundred metrea before the end to which Craddock reacted. Then I went past him and came first over the line. It feels really fantastic to have a victory so early in the season. Not only for myself, but also for the team."

Craddock was disappointed not to win the stage but happy to have gained time for the overall classification. "The team was doing a great job covering the moves and it was just a bit of luck that I was the one that ended up in the break today," he said.

"I didn't have the legs to sprint for the win, but I'm happy to get a bit of a jump on GC."

In the afternoon the riders face a 13.3km team time trial from Gatteo to Gatteo Mare on the Adriatic coast.

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