Tour of Hungary

Continuing the strong start to this year’s Tour de Hongrie 22-year-old Matyas Kopecky really found his form on today’s stage two sprinting into his second top five of the season with fourth place. 

Team Novo Nordisk almost didn’t get the chance to contest the result at all after a mass crash took down over 30 riders inside the last 50km, but thankfully most of the bunch were able to get upright and continue.

“It was an awful crash and I really hope everyone is ok,” began Kopecky. “We were caught up in it, and it was one of those situations where you’ve got nowhere to go and nothing to do. But we were lucky, because we could actually carry on.”

“There was a frenetic feeling throughout the day really, there was some wind in the beginning and then the crash, but the guys regrouped and did a great job again all the way through to the final.

“I felt like I was carrying so much speed in the sprint and if you watch the it back, it was a little hectic in the last meters and I had to shuffle a bit and lost my line slightly. What a rush though, when you’re feeling good and get a result on a chaotic day like today there’s nothing like it.”

Italian rouleur Umberto Poli put his best foot forward on today’s hilly Queen Stage at the Tour de Hongrie with the 28-year-old part of a six rider breakaway for Team Novo Nordisk.

Poli needed all his experience to be alive to the early move as most teams without a GC leader would want to be represented and as expected the attacks came out of neutral.

“We came with the goal of doing well in the sprint stages,” said Poli. “And after doing so well with Matyas in the first two sprints we knew that with today’s climbs the breakaway was a key target for us.”

“I’m feeling good day by day and it’s really nice being back out front again, getting exposure for the team and showing ourselves at the head of the race. There was good collaboration in my group and I managed to get some GPM points which is not like me! We have two more possibilities in the last two stages now, so we will try our best to help Matyas in the finals again.”

British neo pro Hamish Armitt was the first ride for home for TNN, just under a minute down on the leaders in 28^th place, a positive performance for the Glaswegian after a difficult period recovering from injuries sustained when crashing out of the Tour of Hellas.

Twelfth, fourth and now eighth for young Czech sprinter Matyas Kopecky at the Tour de Hongrie with the Team Novo Nordisk star mixing it with the best in the sprints and showing what’s possible with diabetes at the highest level.

A windy 154km of racing unfolded in Hungary as the fourth stage saw an early breakaway reeled in ahead of the punchy closing circuits around Székesferhérvár follows by a frantic bunch kick to the line.

“It was harder today with the wind,” began Kopecky. “I like these kind of conditions, but you have to be on your toes and at the front at all times in case it splits. Thankfully we were and we managed to keep our heads even on the last laps.”

“The guys did a great job again and the big teams were the ones controlling the late attacks on the laps, so I could focus on position, but Umberto was super today and really helped me. 

“It’s another top ten. I don’t want to sound crestfallen, we worked hard and got a good result, but we want more – especially when we’ve been doing so well here. It would be great to make it on to the podium and we’ll give it everything again on the final stage tomorrow.”

Team Novo Nordisk got back on track at the Tour de Hongrie this week with 22-year-old Matyas Kopecky showing the meaning of the word consistency another top five on today’s final stage.

The whole team proved their worth throughout the week with tireless work coming from Italians Filippo Ridolfo and Antonio Polga, a strong queen stage ride from neo pro Hamish Armitt and a valuable breakaway appearance and series of important roles in the stage finals from Umberto Poli. 

However it was Kopecky who inevitably stole the show. After finishing 12th on the opening stage the punchy young Czech never looked back with fourth, eighth and then finally fifth. All up against some of the world’s best sprinters. Demonstrating once more not only talent, but determination and perseverance while inspiring the global diabetes community and racking up the points.

“We’ve had a really strong five days of racing here at the Tour de Hongrie,” said Kopecky. “Everyone has been riding well and working hard for each other. To bounce back like this after a hard time in Turkey is very satisfying.”

“I felt that after the first stage the results would get better, I had good legs and felt fast in the finals and the results show that. One or two things go slightly different and it could have been two podiums instead of two top fives, but no two finishes are the same and against this field I’m really happy with these results.”