Kopecky 10th & Ridolfo in the break on wet stage two in Hungary

11 May 2023

A wet and crash-marred second stage at the Tour de Hongrie saw the next generation of Team Novo Nordisk stars take center stage with Filippo Ridolfo driving the breakaway and Matyas Kopecky sprinting to another top ten.

Head sports director, Massimo Podenzana:

“Another good day for the team today, it was certainly eventful and the rain made for a few crashes in the second half of the stage, but fingers crossed it looks like all the guys are ok.”

“Filippo did a great job in the breakaway and now we have two guys in contention for the climber’s jersey. Obviously, the plan was to go with Charles, but his attack didn’t stick and as instructed Filippo followed the second move and that’s the one that went.

“We are a team and we work as a team, so we ticked that box and with Matyas doing great again in the finale with another top ten…well, we couldn’t have asked for a better start.”

Filippo Ridolfo:

“I just followed the second move after Charles tried and then Massimo told me that Charles was chasing behind so I refused to pull to try and give Charles a chance to make it over. But after 30 minutes the bunch caught him and I had to start taking my turns”

“As soon as we hit the climbs two of the guys were in difficulty so I drove the move as much as possible into the second half of the stage and managed to take some points in the GPM and intermediate sprints. For sure we will be going again for Charles tomorrow and I hope with more GPM points on offer that we are able to make something happen.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“I couldn’t see anything in the finale. I was just riding on instinct and when I heard it was another top ten I was overjoyed. It was so wet that my glasses steamed up, but that was the same for everyone I guess.”

“It was a buzz for sure. I spent some energy chasing back after a crash happened right in front of me and Andrea did amazing to make it back up to me after he went down. He took me l right into the wheels and after that, it was a blur.”