Double day in Bulgaria as Ceurens finds his legs and Kopecky fights strong

The Tour of Bulgaria served up two stages today with a fast and flat stage 3a followed by a longer mountainous stage 3b. The opening stage saw the first bunch sprint of the race with Robbe Ceurens mixing it up for 12th place. 

Matyas Kopecky fought strongly on the second stage that saw the peloton battle three major climbs. The 19-year-old finished 12th, a result that moves him up 12th overall. 

Robbe Ceurens:

“There were so many attacks at the beginning of today’s first stage because everyone knew it was a short one. The peloton wouldn’t let any moves go so we knew it would come down to a sprint. We moved forward as a team to prepare for a leadout where I would be the guy going for the sprint. We came back from a little too far back but I still got 12th place. Personally, it’s nice to be in the mix again and find form in this race. I feel like I have good legs and it’s really nice to contribute to the team’s plans here.” 

Matyas Kopecky:

“The second stage today started with the first climb coming early in the day. The pace was all out and I managed to make the front group as the peloton split into 1000 pieces. We managed to quickly open up a gap of three to four minutes on the peloton. I tried to save energy on the flats because I knew the climbs that were coming would be hard. I survived the next climb then on the final one, the front group split into two and I lost contact. I was the last rider not to follow the 10 riders in the front and from there it was about preparing for the sprint from my group.”