The Wolfpack was visible the entire day on the hilly roads to Cesena.
Mauri Vansevenant rolled the dice on the up-and-down stage three of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, going on the attack with more than 25 kilometers to go and building a nice gap of almost half a minute together with Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), the only rider who joined him.
Bofere this move, another Soudal Quick-Step rider had been in the spotlight. Pascal Eenkhoorn attacked from the start and joined a four-man breakaway, from where he rode away staying alone at the front until 30 kilometers to go, a remarkable effort from the former Dutch Champion, who was caught only after several teams joined hands in the bunch to chase him down.
On the long Diolaguardia climb, the two worked well together until the final kilometer, when Mauri lost contact after a sudden acceleration of the Australian and was caught by the small peloton traveling at a different speed. On the descent to Cesena, the small group tried to bring back the lone leader of the race, but Vine remained off the front and took the victory at the end of this third stage.
Soudal Quick-Step was represented in the group by the impressive Andrea Raccagni, who made it over the many climbs of the day and sprinted to ninth for his third top ten of the season. The young Viktor Soenens, winner of the youth jersey in last month’s O Gran Camiño, is our highest-ranked rider in the general classification.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
