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Jasper Philipsen pipped Britain’s Ethan Vernon to victory in a sprint finish at the end of the first stage of the Vuelta a Espana in Novara, Italy.
Philipsen, of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, came out on top in a bunch finish to claim his first win since his victory on the opening stage of last month’s Tour de France.
Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) held on to take second place ahead of Orluis Aular (Movistar), with Elia Viviani just missing out on the podium.
It marked a strong return from Philipsen, who was forced to withdraw from last month’s Tour after fracturing his right collarbone in a crash during a third stage sprint.
“Winning is always a nice feeling and definitely when there is a reward like the red jersey, of course it’s a nice present,” Philipsen said.
“We managed to do our lead-out the way we wanted to… In the final kilometre, they executed it perfectly. I saw 175 meters to go and had to start sprinting, I’m really happy it worked out for us.
“After my crash in the Tour, I was really disappointed to be out… It was a setback. This was a nice goal, but I knew we only had one chance because there aren’t many opportunities for a sprinter like me at this Vuelta.”
With the Vuelta making its first start in Italy, Spain’s Hugo de la Calle launched a brave solo move with 83km to go but was caught by the peloton with 38km remaining to set up the grandstand finish.
PA
