Modolo wins stage 2 of VDK-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde

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Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) won the battle of the sprinters on the second stage of the Three Days of de Panne, beating Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) on Wednesday.

Modolo lost out to Kristoff in the final road stage of last year's race, but didn't miss a trick here. Maximiliano Richeze lead-out the Italian from the 250-metre-to-go barrier, giving Modolo a clear run to the line and his fifth victory of the season.

"It went like it was supposed to. I had (Davide) Cimolai and Richeze with me, and Richeze did a great job to lead me out. All I could do after that was win. I actually didn't expect much today as I didn't think I'd have the legs after the weekend," Modolo said at the finish.

Démare spent much of the final 500 metres going elbow to elbow with Omega Pharma-QuickStep's Gert Steegmans, as the sprinters jostled for postion. The Frenchman was quick to get into wheel of the Lampre-Merida rider, but didn't have the legs to come around him. Today's favourite for the victory, Marcel Kittel, finished the day down in eighth. He was in the middle of the pack as Molodo went and found himself boxed in with nowhere to go.

Steegmans took some bonus seconds at an intermediate sprint and takes the race lead, one second ahead of Oscar Gatto (Cannondale).

Sagan calls it quits

The second stage of the Three Days of de Panne was a 206-kilometre run from Zottegem into de Panne. It took 21km of racing, but eventually seven men got off the front. Sébastian Rosseler (Veranclassic-Doltcini), who won the event in 2011, was joined by James Vanlandschoot (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Marco Canola (Bardiani CSF), Antonio Parrinello (Androni Giocattoli-Venuzuela), Daniele Colli (Yello Fluo) and Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthCare).

The eight men were given a lot of leeway and at one stage held a lead of more than seven minutes over the peloton, before they were slowly reeled back in. After "accidentally" winning yesterday's stage, when he didn't brake hard enough to allow his teammate Oscar Gatto take victory, Peter Sagan began the day in the leader's jersey.

With his mind on the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, it was no surprise when Sagan sat up and dropped back when the peloton rode over the Kemmelberg. He rolled across the finish line at the end of the first lap in de Panne more than nine minutes back and climbed off his bike.

The stage had been billed as one for the fast men, but it nearly didn't happen with a three-man group disappearing off the front with 23 kilometres to go. In the group were Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Gatto. Looking to secure his place in the general classification, Terpstra hoovered up the remaining bonus seconds at the intermediate sprints. The trio were eventually caught with three kilometres remaining, but he had done enough to move Terpstra up to fourth and gain more time on his rivals.

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