March 31/11 10:25 am - 3 Days of De Panne: Stage 3

Posted by Editoress on 03/31/11
 

Results from the first of 2 stages today of the KBC - Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde

(3 Days of De Panne) in Belgium

Jacopo Guarnieri sprints to victory in De Panne. First win of the season for the Liquigas-Cannondale sprinter

Jacopo Guarnieri has picked up where he left off in Belgium. The Liquigas-Cannondale sprinter took charge of the group to secure his first win of the season in this morning’s first half-stage on the third day of the KBC De Panne (111 kilometres on a city circuit around De Panne). After two wins in the Tour de Pologne (2009 and 2010) and the Circuit Franco-Belge (which concluded the 2010 season), the 23-year-old has now sealed his fourth career win and brought the Liquigas-Cannondale total for this season up to eight.

"I’m really pleased because I’ve been chasing this win since the start of the season. "said Guarnieri, "I knew I’d worked hard over the winter but unfortunately for one reason or another I’ve not been able to perform to my best over the past few months. I suffered a lot in the Gent-Wevelgem, and also during the first two stages here in De Panne but that suffering proved to be useful. It’s also thanks to that difficulty that I succeeded in racing how I wanted with the type of powerful finish I like, plus it’s in Belgium where I really love to race. I’ve broken the ice now so I hope this is just the start. "

According to the race report it was a short but tough race that was conditioned by strong winds right from the start. "Strong gusts buffeted against us for most of the race, particularly at the end. Riders started to scatter as soon as we set off and there were only about forty of us left at the front. When it came down to the final battle I tried keep myself as well covered as possible in fifth position and then I followed the train of Skil-Shimano and went from 300 metres from the finish. It was a long hard sprint because I was riding into a headwind and Galimzyanov was counterattacking: the desire to win was too strong to let anybody get past me though. "

Guarnieri will wrap up his trip to Belgium with the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. "I’ll be supporting Daniel Oss and Peter Sagan, that type of race definitely suits them much better than me. I’ve got my eye on the Paris-Roubaix: it’s a race that fascinates me and I’ll be giving it my best shot, "concluded Guarnieri.

Liquigas-Cannondale press release