Oudenaarde: UAE Team Emirates rider Sacha Modolo finished sixth in the 260-km Tour of Flanders cycle race from Antwerp to Oudenaarde at the weekend behind winner Philip Gilbert of Team Quick Step Floors.

“For me it’s as if I’ve won, I am very pleased,” said the 29-year-old Italian.

“After finishing fourth in the 2010 Milan-San Remo in my professional debut people were expecting great things, but I couldn’t continue performing at that level. I lost self-confidence and started to think I wasn’t suited to these races, even though everyone close to me, continued to encourage me. With today’s race, I’m finally back achieving good results and I hope to continue.”

Elsewhere, Oliviero Troia, who turned professional last year, had an impressive debut.

The 22-year-old Italian was a key player from the outset going on a breakaway with seven others that lasted 192-km.

Troia said: “To break away for nearly 200-km in the middle of two sides of a continuing tide of cheering crowds was something that had never happened to me before. When I got caught I tried to give what I had left to set up the final as best I could for Sacha; then I had to raise the white flag because I was exhausted. I’m sure that in a few years I will come back here to figure as a major player all the way to the end.”

Modolo had earlier secured a podium place finishing third in stage 3A of the Three Days of De Panne race over the weekend. He had previously won two stages of the race in 2014.

It was the third top five result for UAE Team Emirates in the Three Days of De Panne after fellow Italians Simone Consonni clinched a podium in the opening stage and Andrea Guardini finished fifth in stage two.

UAE Team Emirates sporting director Daniele Righi said: “The final general classification results reflect the quality of the team line-up. Having three of our riders place inside the top 15 (with Consonni 15th, Modolo 14th and Marcato 15th) and three top fives in four stages is a really good achievement.”

Elsewhere, Emirati rider Yousuf Mirza successfully defended his GCC Games time trial title on Saturday.

UAE Team Emirates is now racing in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco from April 3-9, while Mirza will take part in the Road National Championship on April 7.