Ridolfo and Kopecky straight into the action on stage 1 in Poland

After scoring an impressive podium in last week’s GP Kranj in Slovenia 21-year-old Filippo Ridolfo started on the front foot at the Tour de Pologne, jumping into the early breakaway for Team Novo Nordisk on stage one before Matyas Kopecky overcame a dropped chain to still challenge in the wet finale.

Head sports director Massimo Podenzana:

“We had a plan to get in the break today and keep both Andrea and Matyas positioned well in the bunch saving as much energy as possible for what we knew was going to be a fast final on the race track. The plan worked, Filippo jumped into the break and even though the bunch didn’t give them much rope he did his job well and we were sitting pretty until the heavens opened and things went crazy.”

“It started raining hard with around 40km to go and the tension started to rise, Andrea got caught in a crash before we entered the finishing circuit, so Matyas was left alone in the front group. The track was wet and slippery, and people started to go down on every corner, Matyas stayed upright, but he dropped his chain inside the last kilometer and finished 15^th.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“Man. It’s a real shame about slipping back the last corners, because I had good legs today and I came flying back into the group but couldn’t quite make the top ten.”

“We’re hungry to do well here and with Filippo up the road in the breakaway again we started the race on the front foot and the with the right intent. Tomorrow’s stage is going to be much harder and probably won’t end in a sprint with the climbs in the final third and uphill finish, but we’ll do our best regardless.”