Third overall here last year, the Italian scored a memorable victory this weekend.
Federico Savino took the biggest win of his career Sunday afternoon, when he sealed the overall classification of the West Bohemia Tour after a hectic day which saw him retain the yellow jersey that had been sitting on his shoulders since the end of Friday’s stage.
The 21-year-old, fourth overall at the Tour de Bretagne earlier this season, had a two-second advantage going into the final leg of the race, a hilly 151.5km one around Plzen which turned out being eventful from start to finish. Due to a huge crash on a fast descent, the organisers were forced to stop the stage, resuming it after more than one hour. Before this incident, our team had been very active, helping Savino pick up bonus seconds at the intermediate sprints, which in the end turned out to be vital in the overall fight.
With 50 kilometers to go, the breakaway threatened the yellow jersey, as the gap of the leading group was big enough to put one of the riders there in the virtual lead, but Soudal Quick-Step Devo ramped up the speed behind the escapees and caught them a couple of kilometers from the line. In the finale, our guys protected Savino and successfully defended his jersey, which the Italian won for just five seconds.
“It’s incredible to take the general classification after being third here last year. This last stage was so stressful, but we rode as a team the entire time and all worked for the same goal. My teammates did a fantastic job, they controlled this hectic race and helped me win the race, for which I am very grateful. It feels amazing to take my first GC win as part of this superb squad and I hope more victories will come for us by the end of the season”, said Federico after bringing home Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team’s ninth success of the year.
