This year Sacha Modolo is set to make his debut in the Tour de France and the Italian could not have got a better build-up to the race than he got today when he won the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse. Having shown great technical skills in the finale, the Italian was pleased to get a confidence boost after a long recovery period following a crash in Paris-Roubaix.

After several years at the pro continental level, Sacha Modolo is set to make his Tour de France debut with Lampre-Merida later this summer. However, he got his preparations for the race hampered when a crash at Paris-Roubaix saw him miss some important racing.

This week he is making his comeback and today he proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in the Tour de France sprints. Having shown perfect technical skills to get onto Peter Sagan's whell in the very technical finale, he blasted past the Slovakian to take what is arguably the biggest win of his career.

The result comes as a culmination of a fantastic start to his career with his new team. He already took his first win for the team in his very first race, the Tour de San Luis, and today was his seventh in what has been a great season.

Modolo is pleased to head into the Tour de France with a boosted confidence.

"With the team managers I had studied the finale and we saw that it was necessary to reach the final curve in the first positions," he said. "That would be the crucial moment and so it was. My teammates did a good job to keep me protected and bring me onto Sagan's wheel. Palini did a great job as we approached the sprint and then Richeze was fantastic. He did everyhting perfectly.

"Yesterday I already said that I feel very good and that I could go into this stage with optimism. I knew I could aim for the victory. I rode with great determination and the desire to taste success after a couple of months without any racing. This win gives me great confidence for the Tour de France."