Tour of Estonia

Matyas Kopecky delivered a strong performance on the opening stage of the Tour of Estonia, finishing among the top riders after a fast day on the road – and earning the white jersey as leader of the young rider classification.

The 196.4 km route from Tallinn to Tartu featured a flat profile ideal for high-speed racing, and the peloton delivered exactly that – keeping a high tempo all day and making sure nothing got away. A short-lived breakaway formed closer to the end of the stage, but the bunch kept things firmly under control.

The day wasn’t without its challenges, though. A crash in the peloton caused a key split, and Kopecky found himself caught on the wrong side of it. “It turned out to be a tough day for us as we missed the split,” Kopecky said. “I was stuck behind a crash that happened right in front of me, so I ended up behind the front group. The team did a really good job to chase down the leaders – there were about 20 riders up the road – but that meant all our guys were a bit cooked in the final.”

Despite the energy spent chasing, Kopecky still fought his way into the mix for a strong finish. “We weren’t able to execute our plan in the final properly – but that’s life. It wasn’t the best day, and we need to do better, but at least I’ll wear the white jersey tomorrow. I came here to win, and tomorrow is the last chance.”

Final stage of the Tour of Estonia came down to a wild one in Tartu, with 16 laps of a 10km city circuit combining high speeds and sharp corners. The GP Tartu delivered 164km of relentless action, and with the general classification still open, there was everything to race for.

The day turned chaotic early. Rain hit, then cleared, then came again – making the roads slick and unpredictable. Crashes scattered the peloton and took out a number of riders, turning the stage into a survival test as much as a race.

Matyas Kopecky started the day in the white jersey as the best young rider and held his own through the madness, finishing in the main bunch together with Filippo Ridolfo just about one minute down on the winner. It was a tough stage, and with many riders not making it to the finish, simply reaching the line was an achievement – doing so while securing the overall win in the young rider classification and 6th place in the general classification made it even better.

“After 30km it started to rain, so I tried to anticipate and went up the road for about 50km,” said Ridolfo. “When they caught me, the bunch was already splitting. Matyas was really strong, even attacking multiple times in the final, but it was hard to get away. In the end I still felt good and talked to Matyas about doing a lead-out, but he got boxed in. The breakaway was crazy strong and no one could bring it back – which is a shame, because we came here to win.”