Second stage: Sibiu – Bâlea Lac
I don’t think I’m surprising anyone: it’s very, very hot in Central Europe right now. And the heat wave hasn’t left the Carpathians either. The second day of the Sibiu Cycling Tour was held in temperatures above 30 degrees and the distance was again over 200 kilometers.
János Pelikán was again in the breakaway, who this time won all three intermediate sprints! Although he doesn’t take the jersey, our fresh Hungarian time trial champion may still have a chance in the points classification.
At the end of the stage, the bunch climbed the Transfăgărășan which is a 20 kilometers long climb. The peloton caught the breakaway and János at the foot of the mountain.
Among the overall riders, IPT’s Matthew Riccitelo clearly stood out, who confidently won the queen stage. The best TUS competitor was Veljko Stojnić with 28th place.
János Pelikán after his second breakaway:
“The points were the goal, because if I was already in the breakaway on the first day and I was 11 points behind the leader, I thought I could easily get the jersey for the partial sprint. It wasn’t easy to get into the breakaway, but I was there for every attempt and in one of the partial sprints the breakaway was formed. Unfortunately, the person from Petrolike who leads the partial sprint overall was with me, but I won all three sprints. However, the person from Petrolike was second behind me twice, so he is still leading the overall. It would be good for tomorrow if more people tried the sprints and then I could be several places ahead of the leader.
I set my own pace at the foot of the Transzfogaras, we got into a group with a few guys later. I had already come up here before, it looks very much like an Alpine pass. I don’t believe I need to specifically rest for the Sunday chrono, so I’ll try to get in the break tomorrow too.”
Veljko Stojnić’s thoughts on his climb:
It wasn’t that bad, I am happy with the feelings in the hot weather since I have done a lot of work for heat adaptations.
It suited me, the gradient was good but after the altitude I am missing a bit of racing in the legs. I hoped for top 20 but I believe it’s only gonna get better from here.
Third stage: Sibiu – Păltiniș Arena
The Sibiu Cycling Tour continued on Saturday with a Sibiu-Păltiniș stage. Similarly to Friday, a mountain finish awaited for the bunch: the peloton had to climb a nearly 10-kilometer, 6% average climb to the Păltiniș ski resort.
The breakaway struggled to form at the beginning of the stage. There were several attempts that died after initial successes. Barnabás Mórocz from Team United Shipping was able to be in one of the breakaways. However, unlike the first two days, János Pelikán was not able to collect points at the intermediate sprints this time.
The stage was won by Anton Schiffer from the breakaway, and in the overall standings Matthew Riccitello was able to give valuable seconds to his rivals, so he can look forward to the final day with a comfortable lead. From TUS Veljko Stojnić finished at the best: he came in 24th.
Veljko after his second mountain top finish:
“Today was better than yesterday. I could push a lot more than yesterday. I’m happier with the legs and the feelings from today.”
János Pelikán before tomorrow’s TT:
“I tried today to go for the breakaway too, but the overall leader and one of his teammates were on my wheel the whole time, so it was difficult to attack. We tried everything to make this break happen, but it didn’t work out, and then, as we arrived at the first mountain, I slipped back because I had to work too much at the beginning. Then I came back, but I was tired, there was no chance for me to go for the breakaway. I don’t know exactly what my chances are tomorrow. It’s a pretty winding track. I’ll test it tomorrow morning, and then I’ll decide which bike to go with. There are big teams here, with very strong riders, so you have to be realistic about the chances.”
📷Photo: hila.ro