Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Alessandro Petacchi won the bunch sprint finish of 200km GP Cerami, a race which came back together with about 6km to go on Saturday.
Martin Velits made a 13 rider escape group that had a small advantage, but was caught. GP Cerami included a 3 lap circuit of 13.2 kilometers.
OPQS now has 21 victories with nine different riders, not including the members of the Tirreno-Adriatico TTT victory. OPQS is the leader in the UCI WorldTour ranking. This was also the first victory for Alessandro Petacchi with OPQS.
"I'm super happy about this victory," Petacchi said. "We rode really well. The last kilometer was slightly uphill, but I counted on a great team. They worked really well the entire day. In the final, Andrew Fenn and Mark Renshaw did a great job. I went at about 200m to go. We had a headwind but I too the right tempo to do my sprint and I won. I haven't won since 2012. So, I'm super satisfied about this victory. I took my chance here. I am counted on with this team to leadout Mark Cavendish, and I'm more than proud to do it. But when you win it's also a nice feeling. At the age of 40 it's never easy. when you are a sprinter at this age you gain some strength, but you are a bit less explosive. I'm really, really happy. In this team I've found my place. I'm always motivated and satisfied to give to the team and to Patrick Lefevere back all that they have done for me. I was looking forward to win a race with this jersey and now my dream came true. Now, I will return to normality with recovery and training and arrive at Tour of Turkey with Cavendish. He knows he can count on us. We'll be going for more wins in the next weeks."
