Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Gianni Meersman won his second stage at Tour de Romandie, winning the bunch sprint at the end of 181 km Stage 3 on Friday. He was led to the finish by several OPQS teammates, who did all the chasing for the peloton in the final km to bring back Adriano Malori (Lampre-Merida) shortly after the flamme rouge.
Meersman launched off the wheel of Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE) after being led to the final metres by his teammates. He bested Francesco Gavazzi (Astani) and Albasini in the deciding sprint.
This was the 23rd victory, in three disciplines, for OPQS in 2013. It was also Meersman's fourth victory of the season. Meersman is now tied with Richie Porte (Sky) for the most UCI WorldTour wins.
"I was disappointed about my sprint yesterday and wanted to make it up today for everybody - my teammates especially," Meersman said. "They did a great job today, did a perfect leadout and I'm really happy with my second victory at Tour de Romandie. It may have looked easy in the final but it wasn’t so easy. With 2 km to go I knew the guys had something left in the tank to catch Malori ahead. Tony Martin took me to the last 600 or 700 metres. It was perfect. As for tomorrow, I'm going to help the boys now. Before coming here I had three stages in mind. The first stage I won, then yesterday I was third, and today I won again. So, I am happy."
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