An exciting sprint finish in Jasło concluded the first stage of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix. In the final meters, the fastest was Frenchman Emmanuel Houcou, who perfectly finished the work of the entire team and took the win, becoming the first leader of the general classification of ORLEN. In 5th place was the Polish U23 champion, Marek Kapela from KK Tarnovia.
The seventh edition of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix has started! On Wednesday, the riders faced a more than 150-kilometer stage on the route from Łańcut to Jasło. The first part of the section consisted of climbs, but the final was flat, which favored sprinters. However, attacks were not lacking.
After an exchange of blows at the beginning of the stage, two riders broke away from the peloton. The brave ones were Kristian Egholm from Denmark and Italian Filippo Turconi, who won the special prime located on the difficult climb in Błażowa. The Dane stayed in the breakaway the longest, but he was unable to resist the strength of the entire peloton, mainly driven by the French.
The hard work of the entire Tricolour team paid off – in the finale, Emmanuel Houcou showed an excellent sprint and took the victory, becoming the first leader of the general classification of ORLEN. The next places at the finish line in Jasło were taken by Briton Jed Smithson and Luxembourger Mathieu Kockelmann.
“We had an interesting stage from Łańcut to Jasło. There was variable weather, some sun, some rain, crosswind, and all the time up and down along beautiful roads. You had to be very alert, because it’s known that the first stage is always a bit nervous. There were breakaway attempts, but the Dutch and French controlled this race. At the end, the French kept the left side for themselves and beautifully led out their rider” described Czesław Lang, General Director of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix, praising today’s winner, who also spoke very highly of his teammates.
“I am very happy. I wanted to thank the entire team for their work throughout the day. The goal was victory and we did our job well” said Emmanuel Houcou. Last year, another Frenchman, Mathys Rondel, triumphed in the general classification of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix. Now Houcou will try to follow in his footsteps, although he emphasizes that it will not be an easy task.
“I have the jersey now and I want to defend it. It won’t be easy, but I will definitely give 100%” he said.
There was also reason to be happy at the finish line for Polish U23 champion Marek Kapela from KK Tarnovia, who finished 5th.
“I am very satisfied with this result, it was definitely a stage for me, without very big elevation gains and with a not too technical finish. Besides, it was about good positioning and getting through the difficulties during the stage in a good position. On the last kilometer, the lead-outs of the strong teams with sprinters – mainly the Danes, Dutch and French – were going hard. Behind them, there was jostling for position, I had to line up behind one of them, not get pushed out and get to the end like that. That worked” reported Marek Kapela.
“This is a very good result because we have here the best riders from the U23 category and it’s not easy to get such a place in such a race” he added.
The situation in the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix is still open. Tomorrow is the second stage – the riders will cover 143 kilometers from Jarosław to the Hotel Arłamów, where the stage wil finish. Mountains and emotions will not be lacking! 25-minute highlights of each stage will be broadcast in the evenings on TVP Sport, and race updates appear, among others, on the channels of Telewizja Polska, TVN, as well as on Polish Radio’s “Jedynka” and “Trójka” channels and Onet.
