Tour of Antalya

Team Novo Nordisk continued its fine start to the 2024 on the opening stage of Tour of Antalya today. Matyas Kopecky picked up where he left off in Volta a la Communitat Valenciana last week to pick up his second top 10 of the season.

Sports Director, Massimo Podenzana:

“We have a mixture of youth and experience here at the race along with a couple of guys making their Pro Team debuts, so we’re focused on multiple goals. One of the main ones was to look after Matyas in the sprint today. Last week in Valenciana he showed he is coming into the season with some good form so we wanted to test it again today. For the debutants, it’s all about learning to ride as a team and working to towards these goals and today was very impressive. It’s a very good start for us and we’ll be looking to build on it over the next days.”

Matyas Kopecky:

“Today was pretty fast. It started raining early in the stage which made things a little sketchy and there were some crashes. Luckily the rain didn’t last and conditions dried up. Once the day’s breakaway was brought back, two more guys went away and the chase was on to bring them back which meant the final was a fast one.“

“I felt really good today and the guys did a great job to position me in the last 2 kilometers when it became clear there would be a sprint. I managed to make it through the chaos and sprint to sixth. The final kilometer wasn’t flawless and I had legs for more. But I’m looking forward to the rest of the stages after the sensations of today.”

The Tour of Antalya saw its first climbing day on stage 2, a contrast to yesterday’s flat stage which ended up being the fastest in the history of Tour of Antalya at an average of 47km/h.

Before the climbing began, the peloton was intent on keeping the group together up to the first intermediate sprint. Eventually, a small group was allowed up the road but never given a sizeable advantage. They were eventually reeled in with 10 kilometers to go and the stage was contested by a reduced group that survived the climbs.  

Sports Director, Massimo Podenzana:

“Today was a tough day out with rain, lower temperatures at the top of the climb followed by a fast run into the finish. Our guys had to limit their losses over the hilly stage and the goal was to find a group and get safely to the finish.”

“As we mentioned we’ve got a young group here and the aim is for them to gain as much experience as possible and for our more experienced guys to get more racing into the legs out of this week. Tomorrow there is some more climbing to come so we’ve emphasized recovery to go again.“

The Tour of Antalya continued to throw up mountainous challenges for the peloton on stage 3 of the race. Today’s stage was the shortest of the race over 133.4 kilometers, but arguably the toughest, finishing in Tahtali.

Alessandro Perracchione who is making his pro debut in the race was Team Novo Nordisk’s fastest finisher. The 19-year-old showed great form on the opening stage to finish 21^st on his first day of racing as a professional.

Five riders made up the day’s breakaway and stayed together until the final climb when the peloton was adamant and successful in contesting the stage win.

Alessandro Perracchione:

“The stage went well today. I stayed with the first group until the last climb. I don’t know exactly where I finished but I guess around 60^th place. I’m feeling quite good in my first race. The pace in the pro ranks is so much higher, especially on the climbs.”

“I’m trying to take each day as it comes and the sports director told us to use the race to gain experience and get used to this level of racing. Overall as a team we have been working well together and I think coming out of this race strong bodes well for the future.”

Photos: Velo Images

The Tour of Antalya concluded today with another mountainous stage. After several early attacks, six riders managed to get away. They would eventually spoil the party for a 60 rider chase group and survive by less than a minute.

Team Novo Nordisk came into the race with a predominately young team that included 3 debutants to the Pro Team. They were immediately part of the pointy action of bike racing when they contributed and witnessed Matyas Kopecky finish sixth on the opening day or racing.

Sports Director, Massimo Podenzana:

“Today’s stage saw more climbing like the last few days. The first major climb came quite far from the finish, so we wanted to protect Matyas in case things came back together. Unfortunately the peloton split and we didn’t have anyone in the front group.”

“In the end, six guys got away from the front group and stayed away while we had Matyas and Alessandro in what was left of the peloton. All of the guys making their pro debuts finished the race strongly and they would have gain a first look into what racing is like at this level. It was good experience for them, especially helping Matyas to a top 10 on the first stage and now we go home after completing two stage races to focus on gaining momentum this season.”

Photos: Velo Images