Even though pancake-flat stages are not targeted by most renowned breakaway artists as they are usually cautiously controlled by sprinters’ teams, yesterday these units didn’t get their calculations right and three survivors from day’s early move were provided with a rare chance to spoil Bouhanni’s party and decide the result themselves.

Marco Canola, definitely the strongest participant of what remained from the initial six-rider breakaway, eventually took a well-deserved victory in the Rivarolo Canavese, while Jacson Rodriguez (Androni-Venezuela) and Angelo Tulik (Team Europcar) crossed the finish line second and third respectively before furious Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) led home the peloton eleven seconds later.

There were no doubts for the riders, nor for observers that Canola was the freshest from the decisive move despite taking the biggest turns at the front, and even though his two rivals played a cat-and-mouse game faultlessly, they still didn’t manage to outsmart the 25-year old Bardiani-CSF rider.

“I’m sorry we didn’t win as we did a great job and lacked so little to celebrate. As a team we will keep on trying and hoping that it [a victory] will arrive, we will do our best,” Jacson Rodriguez said, according to TuttobiciWeb.

“It was decided in the sprint, Canola has been very strong and remained fresher than two of us. I did my best and I’m very happy for that, finishing a stage in front of the peloton is already something important and presents much value to achievers,” Angelo Tulik admitted.