Bravo Marcato

Marco Marcato.

After being beaten on the line last year by fellow escapee Greg van Avermaet, Marco Marcato finally got a big win when he outsprinted Laurens De Vreese & Niki Terpstra in the last classic of the season, Paris-Tours.

Last year second place may have seemed acceptable for the strong Italian but after learning how to prepare the sprint, Marcato only had his eyes on the win this time and he took it. “This is by far the greatest victory in my career”, he said afterwards.

As you know I normally don’t write these pre-race reports so let me just explain why I decided to write this - and no, it’s not just because I picked Marcato to win. It’s based on Marco Marcato’s courageous attack last week in Giro di Lombardia. After an incredible hard race in the pouring rain, Marcato was the first rider to attack on the final climb. Vacansoleil-DCM started the race in a special light blue jersey honoring Fausto Coppi, but until this point (due to late TV-coverage as well) you hadn’t really seen the Dutch team. 

Marco Marcato attacking on the final
climb in Giro di Lombardia last week.

“My light was almost out. I knew I didn’t have the legs to stay with the best in the final, so I decided to honor our sponsor and show off the new jersey”, Marcato explained. After a few kilometers the Italian was caught again, but I think it shows a lot of character  the way Marcato made the light blue jersey be seen in the final.

In Paris-Tours the Vacansoleil-DCM riders were once again wearing their normal colors but that didn’t stop Marco Marcato from putting in another strong performance and taking the biggest win of his career. Bravo!