Today, Lampre-Merida sprinter Roberto Ferrari found himself at the front of the race. The fast Italian was put in the wheel of the stage winner, Marcel Kittel by his team-mates and it was all for him to decide whether or not he could reach the podium.

He tried to follow the German, but Kittel was simply too fast and so were four other riders. Roberto Ferrari finished 6th right after Giacomo Nizzolo and Juan Jose Lobato. He is very thankful to the way he was prepared for the sprint.

“My team-mates helped me in such a marvellous way that it seemed almost easy to be on Kittel’s wheel. I hesitated a little bit when the finish line was approaching, because I could not decide to anticipate the action. I was afraid of the wind,” he said to the Lampre website.

Roberto Ferrari would have preferred a spot in top 5, but he is satisfied because this was his first sprint of the season.

“When Kittel began his powerful action, I tried to reply, but I missed the necessary speed. I found myself in the second row and I could not recover positions. It was my first seasonal sprint, so the result is good, even though I would have preferred to be in the top 5,” he said. 

Starting at 10.45 CET you can follow our live coverage on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview of stage 3 here.