Bredene Koksijde Classic

We keep talking about the ambitions and classics potential of Matyas Kopecky and performances like today at Bredene Koksijde are the reason why we at Team Novo Nordisk keep talking about those ambitions and that potential, and the reason we’ll keep talking about them.

In the predicted grueling, open road crosswind conditions of West Flanders the punchy 21-year-old Czech knew where he needed to be from the beginning. Through the early echelons and regrouping of the bunch he was there. 

He was there through the heavy and gradual reduction of the peloton before only a small group remained. Lined out like flying geese as the race crossed the brutally wide open De Moeren and returned to Koksijde. 

He was there when the the two groups returned to each other inside the final 30km and though the attacks didn’t stop coming, Kopecky dug deep. Held on and battled.  

“Matyas showed his mettle today,” said sports director Gennady Mikhaylov. “Often that’s the key ingredient in these races..how much you can take it and can you make it. Matyas was there all day in the wind with the big boys.”

“Right until the end he did a great job positioning himself in what was a messy finale. The crash happening right in front of him was sheer bad luck.”

He was there until he wasn’t. There’s was nothing to be done. A touching of wheels. Of shoulders. Who knows? But they went down and Kopecky had to flat brake stop dead or go down too and that was it. So the chance in the sprint had gone. It had already been won and with the adrenaline and the lactic acid pumping Kopecky had to forget it and think about the next one. Move on. To France and Cholet. 

“Man I don’t know what to say,” reflected Kopecky. “I’m empty in every way right now. A top ten was my objective here and had been since we were on the bus coming away from last years’s race.”

“I definitely had the legs today and I felt confident all the way through. The front of the race came back together on the last laps and although there’s more chance of a result sprinting out of a smaller group, it felt like the flow was with me in the corners going into the finishing straight. Then they crashed and it all happened in a split second. Brake or go over the bars.”

“Despite how it ended, I’m always learning and trying to improve in every way, today’s performance is a big moral booster and in general I’m going into Sunday with more confidence.”

Team Novo Nordisk at Cholet Agglo Tour , Sunday 17^th March:

Sam Brand (GBR, 32)

Lucas Dauge (FR, 25)

Declan Irvine (AUS, 25)

Matyas Kopecky (CZ, 21)

Charles Planet (FR, 31)

Antonio Polga (IT, 24)

Filippo Ridolfo (IT, 22)