Our rider left another strong impression on what was the team’s final outing on Australian soil.
The ninth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – the season’s first World Tour one-day race – was once again decided in the final kilometers, when a selection was made on the leg-sapping local circuit, but prior to that, the day belonged to the promising Andrea Raccagni. The 21-year-old Italian, who just a week ago scored his maiden top ten as a pro on the last stage of the Tour Down Under, made his move as soon as the race got underway, zipping away in what soon became a bold solo breakaway. Not lacking the motivation to continue by himself in the scorching hot conditions, Andrea pushed a steady tempo that soon helped him increase his advantage to 7:30 – the biggest gap seen since the start of the season.
The tenacious Raccagni, who joined the World Tour at the beginning of this year after a successful stint in the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team jersey, picked up points on the climbs and at the intermediate sprints, and remained off the front until 70 kilometers to go, when the peloton reeled him in after he got to spend a massive 111 kilometers in the lead. Moments after he was back in the pack, Pieter Serry took off, joined by one other rider, and together they applied pressure on the bunch by building a one-minute gap on the first lap of the hilly circuit.
Despite having been reduced to just 30 riders, the peloton once again came back, but there wasn’t any moment of respite for them, as another small group went away. The quartet managed to stay there until 20 kilometers to go, when a 12-man group caught and dispatched them with ease. A solo attack of Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) netted the Swiss the victory on Sunday in Geelong, while behind, Pascal Eenkhoorn put in a strong effort to conclude the race in the top 20 as the best placed Soudal Quick-Step rider.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
