25 February, Marseille, France
Danilo Wyss crossed the line in second place in today’s sprint finish on stage 3 of the Tour La Provence, behind stage winner Fernando Gaviria (Etixx-Quick Step).
Wyss came from behind to edge out Romain Feillu (HP BTP – Auber93) for second place in the bunch sprint.
The 173km stage from La Ciotat to Marseille capped off a tough three days of racing, Wyss said.
“It was a really hard day. We had a tough start with some big mountains and it was really fast. The final was also hard with some small climbs and the GC guys were trying to attack. We had five guys in a group of around 25 riders so we tried to work to keep our group away from the main peloton.”
“Everyone worked well for me and I was able to do a good sprint. They launched the sprint really early and there was some head wind so I was waiting to go at the last moment.”
“It was good preparation here with three days of racing. It was hard and it was good training for Paris-Nice which is my next big objective.”
Alessandro De Marchi crossed the line in Wyss’ group to remain in sixth place on the General Classification, 12 seconds behind race winner Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie).
BMC Racing Team Sports Director Yvon Ledanois said it was a solid three days of racing at the inaugural Tour La Provence.
“The plan today was always to try for the sprint with Danilo. In the last 25km we had really good numbers in the small group that went away and they all worked for Danilo in the sprint. There was a good level of competition at the race so we are happy.”
“Danilo has good form going into Paris-Nice and Alessandro as well going into Tirreno-Adriatico. For us it was a good race. With Classic Sud Ardeche and La Drome Classic this weekend and then Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico the week after, I think it was good timing to have a race of this kind in the lead up to the next big objectives.”
After a rest day tomorrow, BMC Racing Team will continue to race on French soil with Classic Sud Ardeche on Saturday 27 February and La Drome Classic on Sunday 28 February.
