Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Alessandro Petacchi finished 3rd in the 165km first stage of World Ports Classic on Friday. Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise) went solo out of an original five-rider breakaway with an approximate 1'30" gap and a little more than 20km to go.
Wallays was able to hold on until the finish for the stage victory. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) was 2nd. Petacchi also outsprinted the field for a bonification earlier in the stage. OPQS also pushed the pace hard on the front to try and split the peloton, and tried their best to chase down Wallays in the final kilometers.
OPQS looks next to a final stage likely to be affected by wind on Saturday — a 191km race from Rotterdam to Antwerp.
