Soudal Quick-Step U19 fill out the overall podium at the French race.
Maksymilian Matyasik took his second victory of the year – an important one for the young Pole, who finished at the top of the Côte d’Or Classic Juniors general classification after an eventful day of racing on the rolling roads to Semur-en-Auxois, where the last stage of the competition concluded.
With the gaps between the riders going for the GC still small following Sunday’s TTT won by our team, many of those hoping for a good result attacked early and tried to make the race difficult to control. Soudal Quick-Step U19 did their homework and took over the reins in the peloton, in an attempt to keep things together. Things calmed down at one point, but only for a brief moment, as another group went away, and when this happened, Matyasik was there.
Second in the standings after Sunday’s stages, the 17-year-old showed how strong he is, remaining with the group despite a flurry of attacks, and finished the stage in seventh place, enough to elevate him to first on the general classification for the biggest success of his career so far.
“This is my first UCI GC victory, so I am very happy. It is the perfect way to bring the race to a conclusion, after the two wins we got in the weekend. It was a nervous day, but we did a great job and I booked a place in the breakaway that remained at the front until the finish, which helped me go to the top of the rankings. We can be proud of the way we raced and of the many great results we scored here”, said Maksymilian, who was joined on the final podium by teammates Sune De Valck – victorious on the opening stage and winner of the points jersey – and Gal Stare.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
