Danilo Napolitano out-sprinted Team Sky's Davide Appollonio to seal his second stage victory at the Tour de Wallonie.
Nizzolo retains overall lead
Danilo Napolitano out-sprinted Team Sky's Davide Appollonio to seal his second stage victory in three days at the Tour de Wallonie.
The Acqua & Sapone rider battled his way into contention brilliantly on the pan-flat run in to Oreye and produced another pulsating kick in the last 100m to deny Italian compatriot Appollonio by less than half a bike length at the line.
Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing) took third place on the day, and Giacomo Nizzolo's presence in the midst of the front group ensured the RadioShack man maintained his one-second General Classification lead over Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil).
The 207km trek from Huy had got off to a fast-paced start and the Côte de Grevesse had already been crested by the time Maurits Lammertink (Vacansoleil), Marco Haller (Katyusha), Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ), Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) eventually sprung clear.
The quintet were quickly joined by Kevin Van Melsen (Accent.jobs) and over the next hour saw their advantage grew to 4min 30sec before RadioShack and Lotto-Belisol took control of the chasing bunch.
That lead was gradually hauled back and Björn Thurau (Europcar) made a successful bridge after the gap had dropped under a minute. By that time, Lammertink had fallen off the front, and his accomplices would also be swept up before they got within 10km of the finish line.
Once the catch had been made, Team Sky were roused into action and hit the front of the peloton with 6km remaining. That was where they stayed as numerous late attacks were thwarted, and Appollonio moved onto Napoltano's wheel as the action reached its conclusion.
There was nothing the Team Sky man could do though as Napolitano's late surge proved insurmountable and heralded his third victory of the season.
