15.03.2019

Mark Kump lost his strength towards the end

Mark Kump lost his strength towards the end
Winner of the first stage of Istrian Spring Trophy was somewhat by a tradition decided in the sprint finish of the main group. Hungarian Valter Atila (CCC Development Team) was strongest on the challenging climb to Labin, with riders behind him crossing the finish line with small gaps. Marko Kump lost his strength towards the end, so Radoslav Rogina stepped in for Adria Mobil. He was 17th, but the race is far from decided.

We asked Jon Božič to describe the stage for us: “We’re answering on every attack and tried to create a breakaway of our own, but it just didn’t work. Eventually five riders escaped, without any of our cyclists. The main group almost got to a standstill after that, we’re cruising with the speeds around 30 km/h. We were waiting for the instructions from the team captain and sports director, eventually I’ve got the order to go to the front and start the chase. At that point the breakaway group was 6:40 ahead of us. Seven more cyclists from other teams joined and helped. We tried our best and were only 1:20 behind on the start of the last climb. We eventually caught the escapees with only 300 meters to go. Marko Kump was in the good position on the cobbles of Labin, but lost his strength towards the end, so Radoslav Rogina came to save the day.”

Saturday stage will very likely decide on the race winner, the race from Vrsar to Oprtalj will be very hard.

Results

PR Adria Mobil Cycling
Photography: Mario Stiehl

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