De Brabantse Pijl – La Fleche Brabanconne

Rapidly showing his almost limitless potential as a future one-day star Matyas Kopecky went deep again for Team Novo Nordisk at today’s Brabantse Pijl in Belgium before cramp set in on the closing circuits with the 21-year-old battling on to finish with the leaders.

Sports Director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“It was a particularly hard one out there for Matyas today, he was alone for most of the race close to the front of the peloton and this is a tough race where you need to be prepared to suffer and he did that admirably today.”

“His positioning was really good as we hit the laps around Overijse and the first few times over the climbs he looked great, always at the front and pedaling smooth. He maybe went a little deep there, because the cramp set in on the last circuits, but he still did a solid job to finish where he did. 60% of the field don’t make it to the end at this race.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“I’m disappointed for sure, Brabantse Pijl was a major goal for me this year and with my recent form I felt like a good result was possible, top 15 maybe even top ten. So to suffer like that on the last lap was a little deflating.”

“I think I fueled ok throughout the race and I was climbing super well the first few laps, especially over the cobbled section. But when the group accelerated to follow the late attack I cramped and that was it. Ciao. I knew I was hanging on from there.”

Photos: Sprint Cycling