Youth to the fore at Scheldeprijs for Team Novo Nordisk

The oldest one-day race in Flanders, the sprinters Classic Scheldeprijs is a big one, and the big young talents of Team Novo Nordisk did not disappoint with Matyas Kopecky surfing the wheels for a fantastic 12th place after Filippo Ridolfo spent 200km in the breakaway.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“That was a big race for us and the guys really pulled out a great team performance. I’m super proud of them. Filippo ticked off the first objective by jumping into the breakaway and then 200km later Matyas rounded off a wonderful day with 12th in the sprint.”

“The conditions favored everyone out there, it wasn’t a ‘normal’ Scheldeprijs in the sense that there was very little wind and it was sunny. I don’t think anyone will be complaining about that and it was great for the boys to have this experience in front of such big crowds.”

Filippo Ridolfo:

“It was a super long out there today and the plan was to get in the break as quickly as possible because we know that pretty much the first attack would stick. That’s exactly what happened and fortunately, I was well placed to make the move.”

“The group worked really well together and being out there for so long and getting so much visibility for the team is awesome.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“I didn’t have good legs at all today and I was starting to think that this wasn’t going to be my day. As we hit the last lap I wasn’t positioned well, I was too far back, but all of a sudden I started to feel better and thought ok..now it’s time to move up.”

“I started to take a few risks on the corners and moved up into the top 30 within the last km’s and boom I was back in position. I had to surf the wheels and jump a couple of trains to stay up there and by the time we were sprinting I felt good. I missed out on the top ten by maybe a wheel so it’s a little frustrating, but 12th is really good and it was a great team performance today, the guys rode really well for each other.”