Modolo doubles up in Mallorca Challenge

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Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) continued his winning streak on Mallorca at the Trofeo Ses Salines.

The Italian beat Ben Swift (Sky) and Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) on the uphill finish to take his second victory in as many days. He is only the second Italian to win two stages at the race since sprinter Mario Cipollini did so in 1999.

"The team did a lot of work today in very difficult weather conditions. I knew I could do well, but winning an uphill today was always going to be a special kind of challenge. Looking a lot further ahead I would hope to do well in a race like Milan-San Remo, too, but we’ve got a lot of cards to play - Pozzato, Ulissi, and in my case maybe see if we get a sprint and see what happens."

After having to go to a photo finish on Sunday at the Trofeo Palma, Modolo was under no doubts that he was the victor. This is his third victory of the year in his first season at the WorldTour level.

Milan-San Remo champion Gerald Ciolek was unable to contest the sprint, after he crashed out midway through the race. The German suffered some minor abrasions in the incident. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) also crashed and abandoned the race but his injuries were not serious.

However, while Modolo found the perfect path on the finishing straight the same could not be said for Swift. The British rider, led out by teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen looked set to contest the sprint with Modolo. Both riders started on opposite sides of the road but Meersman swerved to his right, cutting up Swift and forcing the Sky rider to brake and then re-start his sprint. The two riders had words after the finish, with Vincente Reynes, also caught up behind Swift.

"It was a shame because I think I had a chance of winning that and if people had held their line... he came over from his line and I had to stop and start again. It's frustrating but I'm getting better," Swift told Cyclingnews.

Tomorrow will see the return of the climbers in the Trofeo Serra de Tramontana.

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