Nikita Novikov wins second stage of 2011 Tour of Slovakia: Cycling News
Itera-Katusha team’s Nikita Novikov won the second stage and also took the overall leader’s jersey of 2011 Tour of Slovakia in Handlova on Sunday, June 5.
The first stage runner-up, Nikita took a total of 4 hours, 18 minutes and 56 seconds to cover a distance of 180 kilometres.
After winning the stage, Novikov told the media, "This is my first big professional win. It was a difficult and very long stage. When provided a chance for success, I wanted to use it. The attack came to me and very much looking forward of it."
Tomislav Danculovic of the Loborika Favorit team was runner-up with 2 seconds behind Nikita. Kristijan Durasek of Loborika Favorit finished third with the difference of 3 seconds.
With 30 kilometres to go, Maros Kovac and German Jan Deutschmann attacked the peloton as both of them built a lead of two minutes. However, they failed to catch the other riders. Jan Deutschmann was in the 57th place, while Maros Kovac grabbed the 65th place
with 4 minutes and 4 seconds behind Nikita.
Maros Kovac said, "The best trio was very good pace. I needed a little rest in Congress. Čičmany before and dragged me and continued with the trend of, could not be with them no longer hold. It's a shame. The aim was to try to win the stage, but failed to.”
A group of four riders made first their break-away, including Nikita, Thomislav, Kristijan and Petr Vakoc. All of them worked together and develop a great pace. They built a lead of five minutes, but Nikita had good pair of legs and crossed the finish-line
ahead of the other cyclists.
The three cyclists, Viktor Cerny, Janis Stonis and Kaspars Kupriss were disqualified in the stage.
The Russian rider, Nikita Novikov also took a lead in the overall classification with the timing of 7 hours, 51 minutes and 13 seconds. Tomislav Danculovic (Loborika Favorit Team) was in second spot with 10 seconds behind Nikita.
Kristijan Durasek (Loborika Favorit Team) grabbed third place with the difference of 14 seconds.
The next stage will start in Rajec and end in Liptovský Mikuláš. All the riders will cover a distance of 138.4 kilometres.
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