Another great day for the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team.
Federico Savino scored his second victory of the season, six months after powering to a solo success at the Circuit des Ardennes. The 20-year-old from Pisa, who dreams to win Strade Bianche one day, was the fastest in a two-man sprint after a hard race, opening his effort from the front and holding off Austrian rider Emanuel Zengerle (Felt Felbermayr) to capture Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team’s 15th success of the season.
The 175km race consisted of six hilly laps around Halle, the small climbs on the route – despite not having any tough gradients – together with the strong winds splitting the peloton long before the finale, which was dominated by our feeder squad, who was involved in all the moves. On the podium, Savino was joined by his Belgian teammate Lars Vanden Heede, who finished third from a four-man group and racked up his eighth top-three result of the year.
“The race was hard and very demanding, but I had strong legs and a lot of confidence. Despite the challenging conditions, I felt really good and that’s why I attacked from the distance, making a selection. I like a hard parcours and today really suited me. Knowing that Lars was behind made me even more confident in my chances. The fact I had to open up the sprint from the front wasn’t a problem, I knew what I was capable of and I am happy I could pull it off. I want to thank the team for their support and I’m delighted I could repay them with this win”, Federico said after the race.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
