With defending champion Diego Ulissi having fallen out of GC contention, Lampre-Merida have had to reassess their goals at this year's Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. This opened an opportunity for youngster Luca Wackermann to test himself in yesterday's sprint stage and he did well by taking fourth against some tough competition.

Lampre-Merida had entered the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali with the hope of defending Diego Ulissi's overall win but as the Italian fell out of contention in Friday's queen stage, the team is now left with the only option of chasing stage wins. Yesterday's flat stage in Crevalcore offered the first opportunity and was a chance for youngster Luca Wackermann to shine.

Wackermann had shown his potential by sprinting to a top 10 in a Paris-Nice stage and yesterday he again showed that he has a good turn of speed when he finished 4th behind strong sprinters like Elia Viviani and Ben Swift and ahead of fast riders like Manuel Belletti. He even did so without the support of his lead-out man, veteran Manuele Mori who crashed out of the race with a broken finger.

"In order to be competitive in a stage so fast, with so many lapson a very fast circuit, it was important to have good positions and stay united," sports director Pedrazzini said. "Despite not being able to count on Mori's experience, our riders worked as a compact team and put Wackermann in the best position to do a good sprint."

The team still has Rafael Valls in 8th overall and he will try to defend his top 10 position in today's final time trial.