A massive sprint in the final straight was decisive in the second stage of the ΔΕΗ International Cycling Tour of Hellas. The 25-year-old Matteo Moschetti carried the flag for the mighty Trek-Segafredo, entering the final sprint with a lot of gas in his tank, to cross the finish line first in the amazing port of Itea.
"The last 3 kms for me was the easiest part of the race, but before I suffered and tried to survive and I think we managed well with the team.
Our mission is to win the next stages be competitive and at the final day, general classification can change", said Mateo Moschetti who finished in 3 hours, 49 minutes and 59 seconds.
The Italian was in the spotlight on Day 2 of the Tour, but it was Aaron Gate of Equities Black Spoke who kept possession of the blue jersey, as he managed to finish among the leading group at the 165 km-stage from Maroussi to Itea. A gap of 1’52’’ separates the New Zealander from the Danish Nils Lau Broge of Bhs Bornholm.
"I am really happy to keep the jersey. The boys rode unselfishly to keep the jersey for me.
For the next stages we will do much of the things we did today. We rode so well today they have plenty of strength in their legs to keep that jersey until the end.
People came to cheer me on. The Greek public was amazing. It’s great to see so many people coming to watch us" said the general classification leader.
High esteemed guests at the pre-start in the OAKA
The pre-start of the Tour took place only a few metres far from the 2004 Olympic cycling indoor track venue.
In front of the Wall of Nations, Deputy Minister of Sports, Lefteris Avgenakis, together with his good friend US Ambassador, Jeffrey Payat, the Minister of Education Niki Kerameos, the Deputy Minister of Health, Mina Gaga, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, George Amyras, the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Sofia Voultepsi, the Attica Regional Governor, George Patoulis, the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Kapralos and cycling legend Mark Cavendish, all attended the pre-start of Stage 2.
Stage 2 highlights
The first breakaway came after the first ascent. Svestad (Team Coop), Hellemose (Trek-Segafredo), Chirico (Drone Hopper - Androni Giocattoli), Johnston (Caja Rural) and Wright (Mg.K Vis-Color for Peace-VPM), formed a small group with the former getting the maximum points from the first KoM.
Svestad took the first intermediate sprint at Pyli and stayed in touch with a group of seven riders who attacked after the 46th kilometer. It didn’t take much time for the peloton to catch them after Erythres and shortly before entering Aliartos, another attempt for a breakaway was made by Tzortzakis, Koubis (Dukla Banska Bystrica), Pedersen and Broge of Bhs Bornholm. Broge beat them all to claim the red shirt he wore yesterday, as points leader Aaron Gate was the general classification leader as well.
With the last 15 km a continuous downhill, the stage victory came down to the wire and it was Mateo Moschetti who crossed the finish line first ahead of fellow compatriots, Andrea Peron (Novo Nordisk) and Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper – Androni Giocattoli). It was the Trek-Segafredo's rider seventh pro victory.
James Fouche defended the orange KoM jersey, while Bhs Bornholm’s Emil Iwersen took the white jersey from Italian Filippo Baroncini (Trek-Segafredo) who crushed in the final part of the stage.
Nikiforos Arvanitou of the Greek national team finished 17th, for the hosts’ best outcome of the stage:
"The final part was ideal for me, but I wanted more. I always want more, I want to win. Maybe victory will come in one of the next stages", said the ambitious 19-year-old who has signed recently with Continental team, Java Kiwi Atlántico of Venezuela.
