A 134.2 km long stage was held on the third day of the Tour of Bulgaria between Karnobat and Kazanlak. On this stage, a climb made things difficult for the peloton, but a bunch sprint was expected before the stage.
In the GC, Team United Shipping took the lead before the stage thanks to Arvanitou. Because of it TUS led the main peloton throughout the day. The guys controlled the events and confidently reached the sprint. This time, the two of us tried to sprint again in the dangerous finale. Both Arvanitou and Mihajlo went for it!
Mihajlo Stolić won the stage, while Niki finished in fifth place. With the victory, our Serbian sprinter took the lead in the GC, and after today’s stage, Nikiforos Arvanitou is in second place.
Mihajlo’s thoughts:
“Today’s stage was a true display of teamwork. The whole day the boys faced a strong headwind, they were always at the front of the bunch, controlling the race and covering almost every move. I have to give huge credit to the guys, they were amazing, and I’m very grateful for their effort.
Regarding the intermediate sprints, in the first one I tried to come through on the left side but got forced off onto the gravel. The second sprint came just 10 km from the finish, and I managed to win it. The finale was very risky, but fortunately all of our riders came through safely and in a good position.
And on top of all that teamwork and effort. I managed to finish it off with the win.”
Nike after stage 2:
“We controlled all the attacks from the beginning. At one point there was a small breakaway but we brought it back. In the sprint everything went as planned. The plan was to protect Stolic to win and that’s what happened. Plan succeeded.”
📷Photos: Ian Chen
