Sbaragli Sprints To Fourth in Elk Grove
Kristian Sbaragli narrowly missed out on a podium position during stage one of the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove (UCI 2.1) when he sprinted to fourth on Saturday. The result is the 23 year old, who is in his debut professional season’s 12th top ten finish this year.
Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung was active throughout the race to set up the young sprinter. Jacques Janse van Rensburg was in the main move of the day along with Frank Travieso (Team Smartstop – Mountain Khakis). The two men built up a lead up 1’30” until the sprinters teams set things up for an exciting finish.
“It was a very fast and flat circuit,” said Sports Director, Kevin Campbell. “It went as expected as an early break went. Two guys went away, one being Jacques. They caught them about two laps to go and then came down to a bunch sprint.
The stage was won by Elia Viviani (Cannondale) from Ryan Anderson (Optum p/b KBS) and John Murphy (Unitedhealthcare). Murphy who finished second in the prologue also moved into the overall lead.
“It was a good stage for us. We pretty much rode for a sprint because we were out of GC after the prologue. Martin [Wesemann] was in the mix today right up till the end covering all the attacks but the whole team did a great job. Tomorrow is another circuit stage. It will be similar to today. We expect it to be flat-out racing with the time bonuses on offer as that’s where the GC will be decided,” Campbell concluded.
Stage 2, the final one of the race, will take place over 121.7 kilometres on another flat circuit in the suburban village of Elk Grove.
Race information: https://tourofelkgrove.com/
Tour of Elk Grove (America) – (August 2-4 / UCI 2.1): Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA), Kristian Sbaragli (ITA), Martin Wesemann (RSA) Meron Russom (ERI), Louis Meintjes (RSA), Songezo Jim (RSA), Tsgabu Grmay (ETH)
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