Matti Breschel had a dig on the final lap of stage 2 in Denmark but the seven-time stage winner ran out of terrain before being able to establish a proper gap. Instead the stage was decided in a bunch sprint, where Breschel placed 4th. The squad now directs its attention towards tomorrow’s punchy queen stage.
“I wanted to attack on the hill in the final lap, but I was boxed in and broke free too late to make a real difference and create a real gap”, comments Matti Breschel after crossing the finish line in Tour of Denmark, where the Dane finished 4th behind stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen.
“At the same time, I think that you could say that today was a bit too easy to go clear against a peloton going at full speed on those final laps. Maybe my attack was a bit aimlessly, but I tried and I was able to get a decent result in the sprint as number four. Now, tomorrow is another story as the stage in Vejle always creates a really hard race and a selection. We will have to protect Chris Juul as our captain and create a hard race to see if we can make the difference on the final longer and steeper hill”, adds Matti Breschel, who is backed by team sports director Lars Michaelsen.
“We focused on the final part of the stage today as it wasn’t up to us to control the first part of the race. As we approached the final lap, which we did three times, we tried to put the pressure on, as the terrain offered a decent opportunity to attack but we lacked a bit of collaboration from other teams. Matti made an effort to get away on the final laps here in Aarhus and we know that he has done that with success before. He didn’t get away but he still had the energy to try in the final sprint”, says Michaelsen, who expects tomorrow’s stage 3 to prove decisive:
“Matti’s effort today shows that he is in good shape. However, despite the fact that the stage was 235 kilometers, we didn’t go full throttle before the final 25-20k and we managed to preserve some energy for tomorrow, which will prove very demanding. Together with the time trial, tomorrow’s stage is where the Tour of Denmark will be decided”.
Last year’s overall winner Michael Valgren went clear going into the final three laps of 4.7km but found himself towing a significant rival.
“We had a nice and quiet start, where Astana had to control the events at the front of the bunch. I had a double puncture going into the finale and I had to use some energy to get back again. At the last intermediate sprint, I attacked to increase the intensity, as we wanted to create a hard finale, but Fuglsang was going well, followed me and stayed right in my wheel. We tried to wear out Astana - also with the coming days in mind, while Chris Juul had to get through the stage without burning up too much energy. Matti attacked on the finale lap but was sort of boxed in on the climb and instead he turned his attention towards the sprint”, finishes Michael Valgren.
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