Kopecky’s Late Surge Earns 3rd Place in Kreiz Breizh Elites

Stage 2 of Kreiz Breizh Elites was another hard day in Brittany, with 161.3 km of rolling terrain and non-stop attacks. The race was chaotic from start to finish, but it played into the hands of Matyas Kopecky, who showed his fighting spirit once again.

Matyas was part of the action all day, making it into the breakaway and staying in the front moves as the race exploded in the final laps. He launched a big solo effort in the closing kilometers, catching the leaders just before the finish line and finishing in a strong 3rd place.

After two stages, Matyas now leads the Best Young Rider classification and is sitting high in the overall standings.

Matyas Kopecky said after the stage:
“It was a really chaotic race. The breakaway only went really late, just before the final circuits. Actually, the chaos worked in our favor because there was never a quiet moment or full control of the race. With about 50 km to go, I bridged to the breakaway, and we stayed away until one and a half laps to go. Then the final opened up, and two guys got away. I stayed in the group, and on the last two climbs, I went full gas to try and catch them. In the end, I caught them with about 400 meters to go, but by then, I had nothing left for the sprint. Still, I had really good legs today, so I’m pretty happy with how it went.”

With one more stage to go, the team is motivated to finish the race on a high note as preparations continue for the Tour of Denmark.

Photo credits: Cassandra Donne