Italian neo-pro Andrea Raccagni finishes a strong seventh overall.
Paul Magnier capped off an unforgettable edition of Okolo Slovenska by taking home the points jersey – the first of its kind in his career – in addition to the four stages that he won in Bardejov, Kosice, Banska Bystrica, and Sladkovicovo. It was a perfect week for the 21-year-old, who became only the second rider in the team’s history – after Mark Cavendish at the 2013 Tour of Qatar – to score four consecutive victories in a stage race.“I am proud of what I achieved here together with the team. Four wins in four stages and getting to a total of ten victories since the start of the season is something that makes me happy. I had a great time in Slovakia and I hope to return here in the future, because it’s a beautiful country. Now it’s time to go home and prepare for Croatia, where I’m excited to race for the first time in my career”, Paul said.
The general classification of the 69th Okolo Slovenska was decided on the Kuhutka climb (5.5km, 6.5%), where a small peloton arrived after a series of attacks that came on the Vrsatec – the day’s penultimate difficulty – reduced it to just twenty men. Both Andrea Raccagni and Yves Lampaert were there for The Wolfpack, and the experienced Belgian played a crucial role in his much younger teammate’s solid result at the end of the stage. Lampaert took some long pulls on the climb, emptying himself in the service of the 21-year-old Italian, who finished top ten on the stage and seventh overall – his most impressive result since turning pro at the start of the season.
“It was my first time going for a good general classification, so I am pretty satisfied with how things went. It was hard today and I lost contact at the beginning of the climb, when the others changed the rhythm, but I slowly reduced the deficit and came home in the top ten, which is a really nice result for me. I could have done a bit better, but it’s still a big confidence-boost and something that motivates me a lot for next year”, Andrea said after the fifth stage.
Photo credit: ©Okolo Slovenska
