Luka Mezgec sprinted to a third place at the penultimate bunch sprint of this Giro d’Italia. After being the fastest at stage 13, Sacha Modolo once again took the win at stage 17.

After yesterday’s queen stage, a short stage of 134km was planned for today that took the riders from Tirano to Lugano, Switzerland. Directly from the start, a breakaway of three riders got clear from the bunch, while Team Giant-Alpecin was among the teams that controlled the pace behind them.

When the race approached the border of Switzerland, the speed went up and the break was caught just before the final hill with 27km to go. After some late attacks got neutralized, the bunch sprint was the logical consequence and Mezgec took third in the streets of Lugano. Sacha Modolo (Lampre – Merida) again had the fastest legs and won his second stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia.

“I felt good. The team did a great job in controlling the race. In the finale I was in good position but started my sprint a bit too early because they start coming from behind.

“I hope in Milano everything will come together and that I will be able to drop a perfect sprint there,” said Mezgec after the stage.

Coach Addy Engels added: “Our plan was to go for Luka in the sprint. From the start three guys made the day’s break and we took control with Stammie and Cheng, together with Trek Factory Racing and Lampre – Merida.

“The maximum advantage of the breakaway was 2’30” and because of the intermediate sprint the gap was closed with 25km to go.

“After the climb in the finale we controlled again till the 10km sign, at that point the other teams took over and we focused on the lead-out. Luka got the wheel of Modolo but lost it again at 500m. Although he did a well-timed sprint, Modolo was a bit stronger today.”