The finale at the PPC Cycling Tour of Greece was surprising, dramatic and at the same time exciting. The blue jersey, meaning victory in the race, was literally decided in the last meters of the fourth and final stage, with Caja Rural’s Yuri Leitao the great triumphant.
The 24-year-old Portuguese, who before the Tour of Greece had not celebrated a victory in his career, managed with a strong sprint on the cobbled main road of Ancient Olympia to finish second in the stage, just behind Stanislav Aniolkowski of Human Powered Health and take the a precious six seconds that put him higher than anyone in the general classification. A second place that also gave him the Kotsovolos red jersey, the prize for the first in the points standings.
The bonus seconds were essential for Leitao, as at 32.2 kilometers from the start in Costa Navarino and specifically in Marathopolis, his main competitor for the PPC blue jersey, Aaron Gate of Bolton Equities Black Spoke, had gained a second with third place in first intermediate sprint, equaling his rival’s time and maintaining an advantage of just 17 milliseconds (from the prologue).
Holder in relation to the penultimate day of the match, neither the Bettson orange jersey, nor the EOT white jersey, have changed.
The cyclist of the Cypriot national team, Andreas Miltiadis, with an impressive effort and after beating the American Tyler Stites, made his own six points from the category 2 sprint climb to Trifilias Tower, mathematically securing the orange jersey from the first 15 kilometers of his stage
With the second place in the sprint in Marathopolis, Miltiadis was also placed very high in the general ranking (6th), behind Leitao, Gate, Aniolkowski, Rory Townsend (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and Jakub Otroumba (ATT Investments)
Bolton Equities Black Spoke’s Logan Carey crossed the finish line with the big pack in 2:56.20 and comfortably retained the white jersey for the best young (U23) cyclist, which he had worn since the first day of the Tour. This was the… souvenir from this year’s Tour for the team from New Zealand, who last year won the blue jersey with Aaron Gate.
As far as the Greek national team is concerned, Giorgos Bouglas was the highest of all in the general ranking, in 34th place, 48” behind Leitaos.
The statements of the protagonists
Yuri Leitao: “I am very happy. There was a great battle all these days. We showed that we have a strong team, I couldn’t have won the race without their support.
When Gate got the bonus, he got the upper hand, but on the other hand Bolton Equities Black Spoke helped us out, they took it upon themselves to catch the athletes who had ‘disconnected’.
On the straight I “just” had to sprint. On the last hill I had two of my own and didn’t have to go too fast. On the downhill my teammates accelerated until the last 400 meters and I managed to catch Gate.
In the final sprint I didn’t manage to take the stage win, but we won the general classification and that’s the most important thing.
Before the Tour I didn’t think I could win stages and the Tour, it was unthinkable for me. The final result is very important for the whole team.”
Stanislav Aniolkowski: “It was a good day for us, a very good job was done by my team.
And in the third stage they helped me a lot, but I didn’t have confidence in my abilities. Today we made it! It was a very nice day in a very nice country, Greece.
In the sprint, which was very fast, I made a big effort to get ahead.
On the first day, we didn’t get what we planned, but we are generally satisfied.”
Andreas Miltiadis: “As a Cypriot I am very happy to be in Greece in this historic place, Ancient Olympia. I thanked Gyros very much.
I came here aiming for the general classification, I was fourth in the Prologue and I finally won the orange jersey, after the circumstances that favored me on the second day, on the Heraklion stage.
I am happy to be 6th overall and I hope to take part in the Tour of Greece in 2024 as well.”
Logan Curry: “We pushed for the bonus, we got it and it boosted our confidence. We had a plan for the finish, but obviously it didn’t work, although we put Gate in position for the final sprint.
The Caja Rural guys did a great job, there was nothing more we could have done from our end.
I am very happy that I managed to keep the white jersey until the end.
It’s an amazing feeling to be here in Ancient Olympia.”
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
