Around Slovakia: Peter Sagan evaluates today’s prologue – ŠPORT.sk

today 19:21
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Australian cyclist Kaden Groves won the introductory prologue of the 65th annual international race Around Slovakia and took the lead in the overall standings. Home favorite Peter Sagan from Bora-Hansgrohe took 10th place and won the jersey for the best Slovak.

UPDATED 20:30 ABOUT THE VOICE OF E. BAŠKA

“The atmosphere was great, quite a lot of people. So after at least two years of covid, I haven’t seen so many people together yet. It was fast from start to finish. I probably didn’t lose in that bend, because she walked slowly and not in speed. The expectations were higher, everyone was probably expecting something better, but the important thing is to be there without falling, so we move on. ” he said Sagan.

The rider of the BikeExchange Groves stable managed a 1.6 km long time trial in the historical center of Košice in 1: 50.46 minutes. Last year’s overall winner Jannik Steimle from Germany (Deceuninck-QuickStep) finished second with a gap of 32 hundredths, the third was with a shortfall of 0.91 with Polish Marceli Boguslawski (Mazowsze Serce Poslki).

For the twenty-two-year-old Grovesa it was the sixth professional victory. “It was really a very long wait before I could start, but I am very happy that I managed to fulfill what I went with in today’s prologue. The start and turn were the only two trouble spots, but it wasn’t long, so I kept up the high pace. This is my first time in Slovakia and it is an honor and a joy for me to be here, ” said the winner in a television interview.

The second best Slovak was Erik Baška from Bory in 20th place with a four-second loss, Lukáš Kubiš (Dukla Banská Bystrica) finished six places and a second lower. “Feelings are quite nice, but I probably burned the beginning a little more than I wanted and in the last 200-300 m I felt that I was running out of energy. It is very short, but even here you need to spread your strength. People pushed us to the goal. I am happy for the atmosphere, how many people came here and I hope that it will be the same in the coming days, ” he said Baska.

On Thursday, the first stage, 158.4 km long, follows, with a start and finish in Košice, which will offer three speed and four mountain premiums.

Peter Sagan performed a hellish mountain ride:

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