Team Polti Kometa attacks the Skoda Tour: Mattia Bais in a great breakaway and 3 riders among the best

Team Polti Kometa tackles the Skoda Tour in their debut participation: on the roads of Luxembourg Mattia Bais rides 130 kilometers in a breakaway alongside three other men, though the leading group is halved on the three central climbs. In the finale the 1996-born from Trentino finds himself breaking away with Reinderink in a scene reminiscent of Maestri and Alaphilippe’s great adventure at the Giro d’Italia that earns Bais the combativity award.

Speaking of him: when the two attackers are caught on the last wall, 8 km from the end, it’s Mirco who moves to the front positions to play his chances in the slight uphill finish of this opening stage. While Van der Poel takes the win, Polti Kometa’s captain finishes 11th, Javier Serrano 15th and Davide Piganzoli 20th, showing a solid team performance.

Bais: “I was feeling really good and wanted to try because I knew the wind could favor a long-range action. Unfortunately it worked against us, but I’m glad I gave it a go and gave my all to dream of a big success. On top of that, I also managed to grab a few points in the KOM classification.”

Maestri: “I came back in good shape after the fantastic experience at the European Championships and I’m pleased with Mattia’s performance in the breakaway. I’m a bit less happy about getting boxed in at the final corner and missing out on the top-10, but I’ll try to improve in the coming days!”

Sports Director Stefano Zanatta: “We’re competing in a race where over half the teams are from World Tour and today’s winner is the World Champion. We held our own really well, hoping that the leaders would hesitate. Our rider and the Soudal one did a super job, but it was tough to resist the big names with just two of us. Then I’m happy to have seen most of the guys staying with the best.”