Fast start in Turkey sees Kopecky just outside top 10

The Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye opened to a fast stage with the peloton almost averaging 50km/h. Matyas Kopecky led Team Novo Nordisk home in 13th place after a hotly contested bunch sprint.

General Manager Vassili Davidenko:

“Today was the opening day so the peloton is always a bit nervous while everyone is fresh. You can see it took a long time for the break to go and when it went they never got a big gap because the peloton was motivated to bring it down to a sprint.”

“Our goal was to look after Andrea and Matyas for the final and they worked really well together. Unfortunately, Matyas was a little boxed in so missed out on a top 10 but the guys were together throughout the stage showing positive signs so let’s see what we get in the upcoming days.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“It was fast from the beginning. It wasn’t hard because we were on the highway but the speed was really fast. It took more than 35 kilometers for the break to go and when they went there was a brief lull before the chase started. When the big break was brought back we started focussing on the sprint.”

“We were all together in the last 15 kilometers showing great teamwork. All the guys did really well to keep Andre and myself up there. We got boxed in a bit, then got a gap but got boxed in again. Andrea brought me to the front with 2km to go but I lost some positions in the corners. I couldn’t get out of the saddle when I was boxed in but got close to the top 10 so it’s not a perfect start for us but there were a lot of good signs for the next few days.” 

Photos: Brian Hodes