Ridolfo 14th on wet stage two in Slovakia

Italian Filippo Ridolfo has grown steadily into his leadership role with Team Novo Nordisk in 2026 and on stage two of Okolo Slovenska Ridolfo was once again present in the finale to sprint to 14th.

If 187km of hilly terrain from Levoča to Liptovsky wasn’t challenging enough then add some wind and rain and the whole stage becomes a little more epic.

Just as on yesterday’s opener six riders formed the early breakaway and quickly established a decent advantage. Six soon became three as the hills and weather began to take their toll and the plucky trio held out until 20km to go before the peloton reeled them in.

“I didn’t feel good at all today,” said Ridolfo. “I don’t know how many times I was dropped and then chased back on, it was battle for me at times out there but once the race came back together again we headed into the final and I felt much better.”

“It was pretty hectic and dangerous with the conditions and I misjudged the final corner, took it too far back but I had a good enough sprint to recover some places for a top 15. Tomorrows going to be another tough day out, so we’ll see how we recover tonight.”