Consistency from Kopecky with back to back top 5’s in Turkey

In a repeat of the previous day, Matyas Kopecky stormed his way to another impressive result, sprinting to fifth on stage 4 of the Presidential Tour of Turkey. The race came down to a bunch sprint but wasn’t evident that the win would be contested that way as it took until the last kilometer to reel in the remaining riders of the day’s breakaway.

The stage finish in Bodrum was a technical and undulating run in. Kopecky explains below that the speed was incredibly high and he didn’t know how his sprint would go.

General Manager, Vassili Davidenko:

“It was a tricky stage to plan because the parcours were very technical. It’s always nice to have someone go in the breakaway and we started with the guys covering moves but the main aim today was to bring Matyas and Andrea into good positions in the final as many riders start to get tired at the halfway point of the race.”

“Matyas had a bike change early in the race but showed professionalism and was calm coming back to the front group. From there Andrea, Peter, David and Matyas managed to survive the big climb and stay together until the finish. The pace was really high coming into the sprint as the breakaway was still away and attacking. We’re glad it came back and the boys did a great job, getting another result for us today. It’s been a great tour so far and now the focus is to keep fresh for the second half.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“It was hard to stick together because the roads were bumpy and very technical the whole day. All teams were just in one’s and two’s as everyone tried to survive and stay safe. I rode the big climb of the day at my own pace as I knew I had to survive this climb to have a chance of a result today. I was just off the back but knew the peloton would slow down over the top where I could push again to come back.”

“The guys did such a good job from there as I didn’t touch the wind once in the final, they just kept me safe. The last kilometer was really hard with a steep climb in it and with 500 meters to go I thought I couldn’t sprint, I was on the limit but there was a small downhill for 200 meters where I could recover a bit and I opened my sprint with 100 meters to go. Fifth in a pro race is satisfying but as a motivated rider, I always want more. We will continue to dream of more.”