Wet first time out at GP Criquielion for TNN

A cold, wet and muddy edition of GP Criquielion in Belgium was won by a very late attack with Team Novo Nordisk just outside the top ten after an arduous 200km day in the saddle. 

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Typically for Belgium at this time of year it was cold, wet and muddy, but for the early part of the race it was a straightforward situation with a break of five guys out front for a long time and Lotto controlling the gap. As we hit the final hilly circuit around Lesinnes, five had become one lone leader and he was soon caught.”

“The Cote du Mont and Cote des Plachettes coming straight after one another made for a circuit of attacks and attrition. We were still well represented in the bunch  approaching the final and if it wasn’t for the very late attack that ended up winning the race, on another day we could have maybe done well with Matays in a reduced bunch sprint, but it would have been tough…everyone was tired by that stage.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“I wasn’t feeling super good for the first hour or so today and was having some difficulty with the temperature, feeling too cold and struggling to find the right balance which is not usual for me. I changed jackets, gradually started to feel better and the guys really supported me here guy ping back forth to the car and making sure I was where I needed to be.”

“I missed that extra percent to go well in the final and I’m a little disappointed because I came here to do better than 23rd, but it’s a hard race in tough conditions and I need to reset for Bredene Koksijde in two weeks. We want to prove that these are races that we can get results in and that’s the objective for this busy spring period.”