Two stages and two very different challenges, but the same relentless pace defined the opening of Belgrade Banjaluka. During the morning 83 km stage, crosswinds immediately shredded the field, with the pace averaging a blistering 52 km/h. DS Dejan Percic noted that despite a delayed start, the intensity was immediate: while Veljko and Luca were part of an initial 17-man move, the peloton never let them slip beyond 20 seconds. In the endgame, a seven-man breakaway decided the honors, with Veljko Stojnić powering away to secure a brilliant 2nd place. The afternoon 34 km circuit in Veliko Gradište was a chaotic affair by the water. Our own Nikiforos Arvanitou sprinted to a solid 4th place as the boys worked tirelessly to position him in the final meters. However, the day was marred by a heavy crash for Cătălin-Luca Câmpean, who was forced to abandon with a broken elbow and facial injuries.
Veljko about his silver morning:
Today’s final breakaway consisted of seven riders after the peloton caught the first group, which had formed in the wind and split the bunch. When they attacked, I followed, and we soon had a 40–50 second gap.
In the last 1 km, Dušan attacked. I didn’t really want to follow him at first because he is my compatriot and, after all, this is a home race. However, I decided to try my luck at a roundabout with 1 km to go and broke clear from the group. I chased him hard, but he managed to hold the gap.
We have a good relationship. We are different types of riders, and when we’ve raced together in the past, we worked quite well.
I feel good. The gap in the GC is large enough to stay ahead of the other sprinters. Only Bradac might cause some trouble since he is close to my second place, but I hope to maintain my position. We are still going to work for Niki in the upcoming stages so he can go for the win in the bunch sprints.
For me, it would be great to keep this GC result, especially since I don’t think I can actually outsprint Dušan! 🤣
János on his comeback and closing gaps:
We started here last year too, it was just as fast then, we did a similar 52 average, so we knew what to expect. At 25 km the crosswind blew in quite hard and the line snapped. I got stuck pretty far back with my two Greek teammates, so we had to move to the front to close the gap. In the end, I stayed in the second group with Niki and four other riders behind the twelve men at the sharp end. We tried to bridge, but we couldn’t get closer than eight seconds.
A large bunch caught us from behind, and with this group, we eventually caught the first twelve men – or rather, there were fewer at the front by then, because Veljko’s final breakaway had already formed. As soon as we heard he was in the move, we stopped chasing. At the end, Niki still sprinted, getting into the top ten, and Veljko finished second, which is a very good result.
I felt quite good considering it’s been a long time since I raced and I’ve only been training for a month. It was a serious full-gas effort when we tried to close up: I set five-minute records, at least for this year for sure. So I really turned myself inside out.
This two-stage format is the ultimate collapse: we only had two hours to rest. I slept for half an hour, ate, showered, changed, pinned a race number, and we were off again.
The second stage, however, was great, I felt surprisingly good, which I’m happy about. I’m curious which day I’ll crack, if it happens at all. Unfortunately, we had to work today despite Veljko being up front because, for example, when Niki and I were stuck behind, Rajović (Dušan, the sprinter) was up front. So even though Luca and Veljko were there, we had to try to bring Niki to the lead. However, it was a short load today, we raced for a total of 2 hours and 26 minutes, which overall wasn’t that much.
I’m trying to enjoy the racing and help the team as much as I can. So far so good, and I’m already happy that I could contribute to today – for example, by closing the gap for Niki. The short afternoon race also went quite well, the team positioned itself well. The end was quite chaotic, only Niki, Drakos, and Rastko remained at the front, from which Niki eventually finished fourth. He wanted to win, but that’s how it turned out today. We are very happy for Veljko, they have a big lead now, especially in a race like this, so I think from now on the goal will be to support him.
Photo: Marcell Lippai