The team had a masterful day on the opening stages of the Tour of Serbia. Both stage “a” and stage “b” were controlled by us from start to finish.
We expected a bunch sprint — but things didn’t go exactly that way. Luckily!
Because Mihajlo Stolic attacked with about 900 meters to go on stage “a” and managed to hold his lead to the line, outpacing the sprinters.
Not that we had to worry much: our Greek sprinter, Nikiforos Arvanitou, took second place.
On Stage “b”, our main goal was to defend the yellow jersey — and the team did that flawlessly. Niki went for the intermediate sprints, securing the green jersey in the process.
In the afternoon stage, our two sprinters finished 3rd and 4th — Mihajlo once again slightly ahead. So TUS heads into the weekend with both the yellow and green jerseys in hand.
Mihajlo’s words:
“On Stage ‘a’ I attacked with 900 meters to go and crossed the line a few seconds ahead of the bunch. In the afternoon, the whole team worked to protect the yellow jersey, and we managed to do just that. Niki went for the intermediate sprint and held on to the green jersey. At the finish, the team rode for me, but this time it just wasn’t enough for another win. Still, we’re happy — the yellow jersey is still with us. I’d love for us to keep it until the end and finish the season with a victory.”
Niki’s thoughts:
“The plan was to go for Mihajlo on both stages since he’s racing on home soil.
On the first stage, we went full gas on the climb, and with 800 meters to go Stolic launched his attack — I eased off to let him get away. The other teams tried to chase, but I blocked them and then sprinted for second place. On Stage ‘b’, we controlled the race from start to finish and set up the sprint for Stolic. I was the last lead-out man, and Mihajlo started his sprint with about 200–250 meters to go. A good day with good results — we’re looking forward to the next stages.”