The PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece 2024 started with the same man who triumphantly closed the corresponding event last year. The cyclist of Caja Rural, Yuri Leitao.
The 26-year-old Portuguese was victorious in the first part of the opening stage (1a) in the city of Thessaloniki and by finishing second in the second part (1b) in Paralia Katerinis, he earned the right to start on Thursday (16/5) on the way to Karditsa, wearing the blue shirt. At the same time, he kept the lead in the points standings.
Stage 1b was won by Italian Jacob Maretzko of Team Corratec – Vini Fantini with an impressive sprint on the long straight of Paralia Katerinis, while Australian Blake Agnoletto of ARA Skip Capital was third.
Best Greek after the first stage, Nikos Drakos, who is in 16th place, 26 seconds behind Leitao.
The film of the fight
Leitao, the 2023 Omnium world champion, was the last to start the first part of the opening stage, which included an individual time trial within the city of Thessaloniki, on a beautiful route along the coastal road starting at the White Tower and finishing next to the statue of Alexander the Great.
The time Leitao had to chase was the 6.47.49 of Aaron Gate, winner of the 2022 Tour of Greece, who now competes for Spain’s Burgos-Bh. The New Zealand specialist in the time trial “held” the blue jersey in his hands until the appearance of Leitao, who lowered the best performance to 6.43.36.
“It was a very short individual time trial, but it required a lot of effort because you have to go full force and it was really painful for the body. The fight suited me. I knew that if my legs could hold, I would be in the top three or win, so I was very happy with the result” Leitao initially said and added about his expectations for the rest of the race:
“It’s an honor to wear the blue jersey here, just like last year. I will do the best for me and my team.
The scenery on the beach in Thessaloniki was amazing, unlike anywhere else I have raced. It was a new, very beautiful experience.”
Czech time trial champion Jakub Otruba of ATT Investments was eight seconds behind the winner, with the third best time, while the jersey for the best young cyclist (under 23) was worn after this first leg (1a ) of the first stage Bogdan Zabelinski, representative of the Cypriot national team.
Overjoyed after the sweet first taste of the Tour of Greece, the 19-year-old cyclist said:
“I came with no expectations, so it was a big surprise for me to finish 5th. I hope to keep the jersey until stage 3.
It was a short individual time trial but I think it’s my speciality, it suits me well and I’m happy with the result. I am ready to face the challenges, except for the 3rd stage of course (p.s.: not suitable for sprinters), which will be very difficult indeed. I will do my best and I hope my team will help me.”
On the road from Thessaloniki to Katerini, for the second leg of the stage, it didn’t take long to form by three cyclists, the Filipino Marcelo Felipe of Victoria Sports Pro Cycling Team, Felix Richinger of Team Felt Felbermayr and Christoph Janssen of XSpeed ​​United Continental the group that “detached” from the peloton.
Richinger won the only straight sprint in Alexandria, while Felipe, winner of the only uphill sprint in Paleo Eleftherochori, took the jersey of the mountains.
The peloton gradually caught the small group of “breakaways” and everything was decided in the mass sprint of the long straight of Paralia Katerinis.
The stage was won by the very strong Jakub Maretzko of Team Corratec – Vini Fantini after a race that lasted 1:57.14, but the blue jersey remained in the hands of Yuri Leitao, who finished second in the stage.
“We worked hard today to get to that mass sprint, to be in front and catch the breakaway. We got a good result and we are happy about it.
I look forward to the next day. We will definitely try to survive the next stage and see if there will be another mass sprint to the finish line,” said the 30-year-old Italian stage winner.
Taking stock of the day, the owner of the blue jersey, Yuri Leitao, emphasized:
“The first part of the stage was very difficult, because we didn’t want a big group to form on the breakaway, so we had a lot of work to do. We had two guys who worked all day for the team, because we wanted the win, but it wasn’t possible. However, the fact that we got a good position in the ranking is also good. Tomorrow we will try to do it again.”
In his statements, the owner of the jersey of the mountains, Marcelo Felipe, noted:
“It was difficult to be in the group of delegates, because it is the first time I run in a race in Europe. But the manager told us we should get into the lead group, so I tried and held on until the sprint uphill.
I tried to continue to the finish but the peloton caught us and I fell behind in the last 10km.
Tomorrow, I’ll try to keep the jersey and get back into the squad.”
Bogdan Zabelinski was unlucky to fall in the final meters, just before crossing the finish line, but retained the best young athlete jersey, as stipulated by the regulation for those who fall in the last three kilometers of a mass sprint stage.
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