The Tour of Hainan faced its longest stage Friday, but the 237 kilometers did little to alter the same bunched finish.

Fabio Silvestre, who finished third in the first stage, was granted a fourth straight opportunity in stage four and although he has not matched his podium of stage one he has consistently been in the mix, sprinting to seventh after almost six hours in the saddle. It was his fourth consecutive top 10 finish.

“I am happy with my top 10’s,” Silvestre said after the race. “But I feel that I can do better. I feel good and I am there at the end…I am just missing a little. The team does a great job for me every day, they believe in me and it really motivates me; I really want to pay them back with a good result.”

“It’s not easy to find the position in these sprints,” added director Adriano Baffi. “But Fabio is always there fighting. Today he came from the back, it showed he still had power at the end of a long race. For sure he’s not in super shape at the end of the season, but he definitely has found some form still.”

The race played out as a classic sprint stage: a fast start until a five-man breakaway formed which was easily controlled. With 25 kilometers remaining the last of the escapees was caught and the teams lined up their sprinters in the fight for positioning into a fast sprint finish.

Sprinting favorite Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida), off to a slow start in the nine-day tour, has found his fast legs back and claimed his second straight victory, also overtaking the race lead from Andrea Palini (Skydive Dubai-Al Ahli Club) who could only manage a fourth place in the tricky finishes.

“Julien (Bernard) and [Szymon] Rekita both did a good job and helped Fabio until they could. The finishes here are not easy at all –  we are pushing Fabio, telling him that he is always there and to win he needs just a lucky break and that could happen.”

“Out of the nine stages only stage eight has climbing. It very well could be eight stages that end in a sprint, and we have only Fabio who can do something on the flat. So there are still chances for him, and we will continue to support him as best we can.”