Sacha Modolo had a good chance to complete an impressive hat-trick in the Tour of Hainan. Unfortunately he found an opponent who dellivered an amazing performance, namely Giraud, and a crash also slowed the sprint of the LAMPRE-MERIDA rider.

The blue-fuchsia-green rider who has taken 5 victories this season, was second at the finish of the 5th stage of the Chinese race, being beaten by French rider Giraud.

Thanks to this result, Modolo retained the leadership of the overall classification, 11" ahead of Palini, and of the points ranking.

"The race was led for most the time by three attackers. We led the chase of the bunch because I wear the leader jersey and we wanted to try to win the sprint," Modolo explained. "Xu Gang and Cattaneo had main roles in the neutralization of the breakaway and, when it was completed, I received the support of Bono, Mario Costa and Ferrari. Unfortunately, Bono and Mario Costa had to stop to avoid the crash. I braked and I had to start a new sprint, but the road was slightly uphill so I could not obtain more than second place. It was a pity, because it would have been important to give another victory to the team and to my team mates.

“There was a crash with 800 metres to go. It forced me to restart from scratch. Once I managed to get back onto Andrea Palini’s wheel, I had already done one sprint. Giraud did well passing me just before the line. Yesterday, I already noted he was fast. Today, he had something more than the rest of us.”