In advance of the 3rd stage, we could have thought that this day is going to be a bunch sprint. Only one categorized climb made things difficult for the riders on the stage. Most of the route was pancake flat and the big teams controlled the events.
Team United Shipping did not send anyone into the breakaway this time, although János Pelikán tried to attack, but the advantage of the breakaway was no more than two minutes anyway. Before the last kilometers it was certain that a sprint was going to come. Before the finish in Ostrava, our team’s two sprinters Mihajlo Stolić and Nikiforos Arvanitou were in great positions. Luke Lamperti, who is leading the point GC, launched his sprint with 300 meters to go, but to his surprise, the Australian Liam Walsh overtook him and won the stage.
Nikiforos finished in a great 4th place, while Mihajlo came in 7th.
Nikiforos on his sprint:
“After my bad luck on stage 1 – breaking my wheel and almost crashing 10 kilometers from the finish – I really wanted to give my best today and bring home a victory. We studied today’s stage a lot yesterday with the guys and we knew that in the last corner we have to be in a great position. I was following the wheels of Syritsa and Lamperti. The guy who later won the stage (Walsh) came to the front in the last kilometer and we contacted at least three times while we were fighting for positions. In the final corner he pushed me hard and I lost some speed and position. I started the sprint in 10th place and in the end I passed as many riders as I could. Happy with my performance. It could have been a podium but me and Mihajlo proved again that we are a great duo and we can do crazy results together. Last but not least I think the first sprint stage suited me better as it was more of a power and not a speed sprint but still I’m happy with how the race is going. Can’t wait to give all for our climbers tomorrow, Bálint and Erik. I believe in them and we can bring home another great result.”
Mihajlo again achieved a top 10 finish:
“Before the finale, Niki and I were in different positions in the peloton, but we met exactly in the last corner, 400 meters to go, entering to flamme rouge one behind the other. We started our sprint from 8th and 9th positions and we began overtaking the others. From 3rd to 8th place in the end it came down to millimeters, so we’re super happy that we achieved two top 10 results. It was definitely tough to sprint on the cobblestones. I think I was missing a few extra kilos, because I had the feeling I spent more time in the air than on the road.”
📷Photos: www.czechtour.com, Richard Principe